Vampire tales

Last week I wrote about Ella's fear of vampires, and I'd love to report that things have gotten better, but they haven't. B and I have both tried to calm her down when she's been sitting in bed sobbing, but nothing we've said has helped.

One night I gave her my old teddy bear, which also used to be my mother's, and told her it was a magic bear to protect her. She added him to the collection of animals crowding her bed, but I don't think she bought my line. In the end, she fell asleep from sheer exhaustion.

Tuesday night Ella had another freak out. She was crying great big gasping sobs, and I just didn't know what to say to make things better. I went back to my office and pondered solutions. Then I had a brain storm. I ransacked the refrigerator, but I couldn't find any garlic, so I settled on a jar of garlic powder.

I took it in to Ella and explained that in movies, because vampires aren't real, but in movies they believe that vampires don't like the smell of garlic. I told her that I didn't have a clove of garlic, but that the garlic powder smelled just the same. She clutched the jar to her chest and put her head down. I went back in later to discover that she had spread the garlic powder all over her comforter, which made the room reek to high heaven. But at least she went to sleep without any more sobbing.

So yesterday at the grocery store I picked up some fresh garlic for her. She now has a head of garlic on the corner of her bed post. Ella went to sleep without incident, but that could have been because she was wiped out from the excitement of Halloween.

In any event, I figure that the smell of garlic in the girls' room is a small price to pay for Ella's peace of mind.