Monster or witch repellent

It seems every kid goes through a stage where suddenly their imagination turns to the dark side and in addition to imagining Santa and Easter bunnies, tooth fairies and pirate adventures, witches and other unsavory characters start creeping into their dreams. Sometimes it is not enough to simply tell your child that there's no such thing as monsters. It helps, but they're still skeptical of us grownups who make them eat green things. So it helps to have some magic in your bag of tricks.

Here is a special product that I had to "custom order" for my daughter. She's not afraid of monsters (thank you Monsters, Inc!) and is not afraid of ghosts or vampires but ever since her Girl Scout troop sang carols in an old folks home, she has had reoccurring nightmares about a witch in a wheelchair. I told her that I knew of someone who made a special potion that you spray around your bedroom at night to repel witches. She asked if it worked. I told her it was 100% guaranteed to work or we'd get our money back and that it was just like a bug repellent but made just for witches, who have special big noses. Then I got to work fulfilling the order.

Materials:

• spray bottle
• labels you can custom print on
• water
• few drops of essential oil such as lavender (optional)

I chose to fill the spray bottle with filtered water and a few drops of lavender essential oil. The lavender gives just enough scent to make it smell authentic without ruining rugs or furniture. Lavender is valued in aromatherapy as a relaxant even for children, so it's suitable for bedtime, but any herbal, floral or fruity scent that you can stand could work.

I packaged it and "mailed" it to my daughter because she likes the idea of special ordering it and it appears more authentic to her. Another option is to present this to your child as a printed recipe or potion and ask your child to help you make it in the kitchen. The instructions for use are printed on the back (mine say to spray once in the doorway and once near the bed) and the bottle sprays a very fine mist so we're not soaking the floors, rugs or bedding. So far, we have one happy little girl who fully believes in the power of her "Witch B-Gone" and sleeps much easier now at night, which means I can sleep easier at night, ahh!

Moms and dads, please feel free to copy this or make up your own version if your child has a monster under her bed or a witch in his wardrobe. I hope it leads to more sweet dreams in your household as well!