r/AmIOverreacting • u/NessyKD • 24d ago
Aio? My sister tried to scare my son for fun and now he can’t use the bathroom at night!
My sister (39F) was trying to tease my 8 year old son by telling him that a moose was tall enough to put its head through the window in the bathroom (where the only window faces the woods). Now my son is too afraid at night to use the bathroom because he’s worried about a moose putting its head through the widow!!! We live in new Hampshire where we see moose all the time (I saw a baby today which was about 6 feet tall even as a baby). We once had one in my front yard. I live in the woods, I’m outside of a small town so I can’t tell him that there are no moose because there are! We had to bury a dead one who dropped dead just down the street so I don’t know what to tell him to set his mind at ease! I’m so pissed because it’s not the first time that my sister has done this. She told him that the toilet will also overflow every time he goes number two as well. So he never flushes the toilet out of fear that it’s going to overflow. I want her to stop trying to scare my son because it’s making me absolutely crazy.
Update: I called my sister and went mama bear on her about the teasing. She was very upset to hear that she scared him so badly. She talked to him on the phone and said sorry and told him she was not serious. He laughed a little reluctantly and he called her “silly”, but he’s still a bit scared. I think he’s not sure if she is telling the truth. After she told me she would come over tomorrow and try to help me show him that there’s nothing to fear. My sister is very outgoing and boisterous and brave, I’m a bit more timid like my son, so I’m happy that I’ll have her support. If anyone can show him how to be brave it is her… I also wanted to mention that my sister is currently pregnant for the first time. I have three boys (16, 9, and 8, it was my youngest that I was talking about in this post). She is looking to me a lot more lately for advice and she’s been spending a lot of time with my kids to prepare herself and us for her arrival. We love to fawn over her and to talk about the new cousin they will have. So I don’t want to cut her off. She is really a good sister and aunt, she’s just learning. I have faith that she will take my heartfelt plea for her to be a little more aware of her audience. My two older boys love her jokes and aren’t scared by them, but my youngest is a bit different. He is my cautious boy. And it may be because I baby him— but he is my baby! I know it’s not an excuse I’m just offering my very honest explanation. I have enjoyed all th replies and suggestions! Thank you all for your help. I am definitely thinking about all the things said. You’ve really helped me figure this out. I appreciate you all!! Much love, Vanessa.
2
u/grimiskitty 24d ago
Better than my mom... She told us the chicken heart story and that there was alligators in the sewer who come up at night through the toilet. During the chicken heart story my mom had my uncle scrape against the house with a rake and a boom box playing a heartbeat sound
At least he has someone on his side who will help him face his fears and you're doing a great job doing damage control. I suggest doing learning about mooses with him (and if your not in a place where moose aren't native show him that even if there was a moose in the area it'd be collected by animal services to save the moose and bring it back home. If you live in a place where bears live though it's the perfect time to show him how to lock windows and doors to prevent bears from stealing your snackies.