The little voice coming from the baby monitor wasn’t our daughter’s, and my heart stopped.
It woke me in the early morning darkness, the sound of a young girl singing a lullaby in the room where our infant firstborn slept, the angelic whisper of her voice mixing with the faint static from the monitor.
It felt straight out of a horror movie, minus the ominous soundtrack. Petrified and nearly paralyzed, I had to muster up all my maternal courage to check on the baby. I found her sound asleep in her crib, all alone in her nursery.
TEN YEARS later we still don’t know the source of that sweet lullaby. We figured maybe the monitor picked up the voice of one of our neighbors’ kids. At least that’s what I’ve chosen to believe.
Halloween-like scares — from the unexplainable to the completely natural (oh, those frightful illnesses and injuries) — seem to happen year-round when it comes to parenting young children.
With three little “ghouls” of my own, I can testify there’s something kinda creepy about kids sometimes.
Have you ever wondered what your baby is staring at so intently on the ceiling or in the corner of your room during those nighttime feedings? Have you ever been awakened in the dead of night by a toddler gently tugging at your foot? Or breathing on your face? Or, even spookier, by a little girl laughing in her sleep?
Total heebie-jeebies!
And let’s not forget their ability to turn parents into zombielike creatures, sleep-deprived and void of energy.
WITH YOUNG children everyday life is filled with constant thrills: “Look how superfast I can go on my bike, Mommy!” And chills: “I accidentally swallowed a (fill in the blank).”
The haircuts they give themselves, or each other. The imaginary friends they seem to bring to life. The crazy physical stunts they do with zero caution. The mysterious clothing stains. The things they hide in their rooms that end up growing their own ecosystems. Yes, raising little ones is not for the fainthearted.
And quietly lurking just around that dark, spooky corner: teenhood, with all its angst, drama and continued unknowns. As frightening as the baby monitor incident was, what terrifies me more is the thought of parenting three teenage girls.
Oh, the horror!
“She Speaks” is a weekly column by the women writers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. Reach Zenaida Serrano at zserrano@staradvertiser.com.
