"...because they tell us dragons can be beaten."
August 11, 2014 7:30 AM Subscribe
Digital artist Laurie Fauvel knows about the terrors that haunt children's dreams. In her "Terreurs" series of digital manipulations, children fight against the monsters menacing them in their beds
Great stuff.
Just out of curiosity, what's the current parenting conventional wisdom about acknowledging/playing into kids' fears of demons and monsters and the like? Is it leaning more toward this sort of thing, or more toward telling them that the terrors don't actually exist?
posted by Etrigan at 7:41 AM on August 11, 2014
Just out of curiosity, what's the current parenting conventional wisdom about acknowledging/playing into kids' fears of demons and monsters and the like? Is it leaning more toward this sort of thing, or more toward telling them that the terrors don't actually exist?
posted by Etrigan at 7:41 AM on August 11, 2014
I liked these, but the monsters are really cute. RSVPing for monster tea and cake party.
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 7:43 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Orange Dinosaur Slide at 7:43 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
The 'monsters' look so scared. Whose the real monsters here?
posted by charred husk at 7:52 AM on August 11, 2014
posted by charred husk at 7:52 AM on August 11, 2014
The peaceful approach is to avoid alerting the ever present monsters to your presence by never ever touching the bare floor of your bedroom.
posted by srboisvert at 8:02 AM on August 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by srboisvert at 8:02 AM on August 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
Annnd now I feel sorry for the monsters.
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:27 AM on August 11, 2014
posted by Celsius1414 at 8:27 AM on August 11, 2014
I think we slashdotted it... (or are we supposed to call that the Reddit hug now?)
posted by Wretch729 at 8:29 AM on August 11, 2014
posted by Wretch729 at 8:29 AM on August 11, 2014
I have (had) nightmares--
My tips for battling dream monsters:
One- top cure for monsters is the magical power of love that appears in a light blast radiating protective energy and turning bad guys into good guys if they have any magical love deep in their bad guy hearts (TOTALLY works in my dreams-- not so much in real life...)
Two- Science-- cure zombieism with the antidote-- works in my dreams and in movies (haven't tried this on any real life zombies)
Three- join them... so you're being chased by a wherewolve/zombie/vampire? Why not turn into the monster-- then you have nothing to fear! Works in dreams and Lost Boys. ooone of uuuuuss....
Four- flying. As long as your dream monsters can't fly, just fly up above them and you're good to go, the nice thing about dream ceilings is that they were made to be flown through, so dream ceilings aren't usually a problem, although occasionally I've been unable to get through a ceiling which brings us to last resort..
Last resort- realize you're dreaming and that even if they eat you it won't hurt! Laugh as they eat you! I let this alligator that was chasing me eat my leg and I was like HA! I don't even care take that mean alligator!
Although I will say, I once had a dream that I was required to eat animal leather with fur on it. They had sauces for it, but it was, regardless of being a dream, amazingly horrible "tasting" and.. the texture... oh my gosh.... whew. Truly torturous for a dream. Apparently my dream psyche hates me.
I mostly don't have scary dreams any more because my magical rainbow light power keeps them away. HIYA!! Thanks for posting this, totally awesome, it looks like the girl with the fairy wand might be trying out the magical power of love technique which I highly recommend. (Also recommended by the carebears.)
posted by xarnop at 8:32 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
My tips for battling dream monsters:
One- top cure for monsters is the magical power of love that appears in a light blast radiating protective energy and turning bad guys into good guys if they have any magical love deep in their bad guy hearts (TOTALLY works in my dreams-- not so much in real life...)
Two- Science-- cure zombieism with the antidote-- works in my dreams and in movies (haven't tried this on any real life zombies)
Three- join them... so you're being chased by a wherewolve/zombie/vampire? Why not turn into the monster-- then you have nothing to fear! Works in dreams and Lost Boys. ooone of uuuuuss....
Four- flying. As long as your dream monsters can't fly, just fly up above them and you're good to go, the nice thing about dream ceilings is that they were made to be flown through, so dream ceilings aren't usually a problem, although occasionally I've been unable to get through a ceiling which brings us to last resort..
Last resort- realize you're dreaming and that even if they eat you it won't hurt! Laugh as they eat you! I let this alligator that was chasing me eat my leg and I was like HA! I don't even care take that mean alligator!
Although I will say, I once had a dream that I was required to eat animal leather with fur on it. They had sauces for it, but it was, regardless of being a dream, amazingly horrible "tasting" and.. the texture... oh my gosh.... whew. Truly torturous for a dream. Apparently my dream psyche hates me.
I mostly don't have scary dreams any more because my magical rainbow light power keeps them away. HIYA!! Thanks for posting this, totally awesome, it looks like the girl with the fairy wand might be trying out the magical power of love technique which I highly recommend. (Also recommended by the carebears.)
posted by xarnop at 8:32 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
Just out of curiosity, what's the current parenting conventional wisdom about acknowledging/playing into kids' fears of demons and monsters and the like? Is it leaning more toward this sort of thing, or more toward telling them that the terrors don't actually exist?
I don't know about the conventional wisdom, but when my kids are afraid of monsters or anything else supernatural at night, I usually take a rational approach followed by distraction.
Firstly, I just kind of acknowledge their fear and sympathize, then I go into something like "Do you know why you only ever see those things in books and movies and video games? Because that is the only place they exist! They don't exist in the real world". Not very cute or sentimental, but it is the message I want to get across. In my experience, kids can have a pretty good handle on reality vs fantasy if you take time to talk to them about it.
The second (and more immediately effective) part is the distraction, which works wonders for so many things with young kids. I just start talking about something else that they are interested in or excited about. That gets their little minds spinning about something not scary, and then I follow with a song (Bob Marley "3 little birds" is pretty perfect for this situation).
It isn't foolproof, I don't have any professional training, and YMMV, but this is my tactic.
It always makes me think, however, of how lucky we are that we (my family) live in a relatively safe place and don't have to worry too much about those REAL "monsters" that exist in the world. I don't know how you calm a child down when the monster they are afraid of is a bomb dropping from the sky... Sorry, that took a dark turn /parentthoughts
posted by history_denier at 9:14 AM on August 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
I don't know about the conventional wisdom, but when my kids are afraid of monsters or anything else supernatural at night, I usually take a rational approach followed by distraction.
Firstly, I just kind of acknowledge their fear and sympathize, then I go into something like "Do you know why you only ever see those things in books and movies and video games? Because that is the only place they exist! They don't exist in the real world". Not very cute or sentimental, but it is the message I want to get across. In my experience, kids can have a pretty good handle on reality vs fantasy if you take time to talk to them about it.
The second (and more immediately effective) part is the distraction, which works wonders for so many things with young kids. I just start talking about something else that they are interested in or excited about. That gets their little minds spinning about something not scary, and then I follow with a song (Bob Marley "3 little birds" is pretty perfect for this situation).
It isn't foolproof, I don't have any professional training, and YMMV, but this is my tactic.
It always makes me think, however, of how lucky we are that we (my family) live in a relatively safe place and don't have to worry too much about those REAL "monsters" that exist in the world. I don't know how you calm a child down when the monster they are afraid of is a bomb dropping from the sky... Sorry, that took a dark turn /parentthoughts
posted by history_denier at 9:14 AM on August 11, 2014 [2 favorites]
... how lucky we are that we live in a relatively safe place and don't have to worry too much about those REAL "monsters" that exist in the world.
- posted by history_denier
Eponysomething-or-other...?
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:44 AM on August 11, 2014
- posted by history_denier
Eponysomething-or-other...?
posted by RedOrGreen at 9:44 AM on August 11, 2014
These are awesome.
And I am not remotely fooled at the monsters' attempts to look "cute." That's just to draw sympathy from you adults, and thereby avoid consequences for their actions.
Schoolyard bullies try to look cute so adults won't think they're bullies, too. "Aw, he couldn't be picking on other kids! He's adorable!"
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:29 AM on August 11, 2014
And I am not remotely fooled at the monsters' attempts to look "cute." That's just to draw sympathy from you adults, and thereby avoid consequences for their actions.
Schoolyard bullies try to look cute so adults won't think they're bullies, too. "Aw, he couldn't be picking on other kids! He's adorable!"
posted by scaryblackdeath at 10:29 AM on August 11, 2014
My money is still on the monsters. All these photos look like before shots to me.
Who wouldn't want a monster tea and cake party?
Depends on what kind of cake and what monster tea tastes like.
posted by cjorgensen at 11:27 AM on August 11, 2014
Who wouldn't want a monster tea and cake party?
Depends on what kind of cake and what monster tea tastes like.
posted by cjorgensen at 11:27 AM on August 11, 2014
Don't beat dragons. They're the only ones saving you from the evil closet ghosts.
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:46 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Zalzidrax at 11:46 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]
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posted by xingcat at 7:40 AM on August 11, 2014 [1 favorite]