Ever since Mike started his “monsters” game with Annie, my mom has been like, “You’re going to scare her! Stop talking about monsters!” At first I was like, “Yeah, monsters are scary, we gotta stop this.” But then Mike and I realized that Annie has absolutely no idea what monsters are. She has no context to think they are scary unless we give it to her. So we decided not to. In our house, monsters are fun.

At night, after Annie is all ready for bed and I’ve read her a story, the Dada Monster comes. “Dada Monster” was invented when Annie tried to stall one night. “I forgot my pwincess doll! I forgot my Mickey Mouse!” After Mike retrieved three different crucial-to-sleep items from the play room, he said, “If you need one more thing, the Dada Monster is going to bring it back.” Annie was intrigued, but also saw another opportunity to delay bedtime, so she requested one more thing – one of her baby dolls. Mike brought it back into the room, pretending it was an appendage on his monster body. He roared and tickled Annie, who shrieked with giggles. Dada Monster is now a nightly occurrence with lots of different props, with Annie yelling, “Go get some toys, Dada Monster!”

A few nights ago, after Dada Monster had visited, Annie said, “I’m going to be Annie Monster!” and ran out of the room. Mike and I looked at each other, trying to decide if it was another stall tactic. Then we heard a little roar from the hallway, and Annie burst in holding a toy up to her face. “I’m Annie Monster, ROAR!”

annie monster

Mike and I cracked up, and I said, “Annie Monster, go get some toys!”

Her next few “monsters” were funny. Panda bears, dish towels, blankets. Things that Mike hadn’t even used.

dora princess monster

annie blanket monster

princess dress monster

The best part was hearing her laugh at our laughter. She loved that she was making us giggle. We loved that she was being creative. My mom will love that Annie is definitely not afraid of monsters.

Annie monster
This monster face personally freaks me out, though