Yikes! A Tickle Bear!

I seem to have terrified ThingOne.

On Sunday, I was reading books with her and she started pretending to be a bear. We went through a list of the different kinds of bear she could be, and while she was pretending to be a polar bear, I told her I was a Tickle Bear, and started tickling her. She liked this a lot.

That evening, as I was trying to get her pyjamas on (her) after her bath, she ran away from me, and into her room. She does a lot of this.

"ThingOne, come back into the bathroom or the Tickle Bear will come and get you", I warned her, implying I'd come and tickle her if she didn't come to get her pyjamas on.

There was five seconds of silence. Then she came running into the bathroom looking terrified. She looked over her shoulder to check nothing was chasing her. "What come and get me?" she asked me, scared. She came for a cuddle. I suppose this photo from a few posts ago is fairly close to her face as she ran across the landing, but I think she was more scared than this.

I tried to explain to her that I just meant that I'd come in and tickle her, but I don't think she remembered the tickle bear game and instead I seem to have created some kind of bogeyman that will get her if she misbehaves. Could be useful for future control, but I don't want to see her terrified face again. I'm not the government or religious, so I don't want to use fear as a method of control.

Other than for road safety I suppose. And to keep her away from knives and plug sockets. Come to think of it fear will play a part in a lot of disciple methods I'll use.

While we were getting ready this morning, Anne tells me that ThingOne ran into our bedroom quite shaken at one point. She couldn't get out of ThingOne what was wrong, but I hope I haven't permanently damaged her. If I wanted to really scare her I hope I'd come up with something a bit better than a Tickle Bear.