The Lying Monster! (Gasp!)

So, A woke up the other night from a terrible nightmare. We had had a discussion about lying the day before. Things like what lying is exactly, and how it is different than "tricking" or joking. A sees the world in black-and-white, and is such a rule follower, that she has a hard time understanding the differences between actually lying, or telling someone you love their new shirt, even if you really don't. It's difficult for her to understand why one is lying, and the other is being kind. The fact that she has difficulty feeling empathy for others (like so many others who are on the autism spectrum) doesn't help. It is a work in progress.

Well, all that talk about lying and its consequences crept into her dreams that night, and she woke up from a nightmare about . . . the lying monster! Apparently, the lying monster comes around when you lie. He comes around to scare you into never lying again. Oh my. It was a very scary dream.

She was trying to explain to me what he looked like and decided to draw a picture of it to show me just how terrible and scary he was. Turn away if you are easily spooked because here he is!

The lying monster!

Notice the yellow horns, the big teeth, and clawed hands and feet! The two necks! The red red and yellow stripes!

After drawing the picture A scared herself by looking at it and asked me to turn it over so she she wouldn't have to see it. Usually, her pictures are taped up somewhere, or stuck on the fridge for a few days before we stick it in her art box. Well, she did not want this anywhere she could see it, so straight away into the art box it went.

For now, the art box is akin to Pandora's box . . . do not open, lest you release the lying monster! Shiver.