As a parent, one of the things most of us deal with is the "monsters in the closet" problem. Imagination runs wild and bedtime becomes scary. Heck, as a kid myself, I had ongoing nightmares for about a year about monsters chasing me around the house. I eventually learnt to deal with it by imagining in my dreams that I could fly, and I'd just rise above them and laugh.

Go Away Monster game

But it took a while to get to the flight stage, so I reckon it's better to tackle these things early. There's a fabulous game for very young kids called "Go Away Monster" - it works brilliantly to let kids take control and believe that they can push those monsters around.

(If you're in the Wairarapa and want to read more about this and other fabulous family games, I've just donated a copy of the fantastic "Family Games- The 100 Best" to the Carterton Library. Pop in and see Viv, Ewan, Rachel or any of the gang and they'll get you sorted. Or you can, of course, buy any of the great games we've worked on!)

However, when the kids get a bit older sometimes a different approach is needed. Our 8-year-old started worrying about the closet beside his bed, and what might be in there.

In here lurks evil...

Swift action was needed! Out came the screwdriver and off came the door:

One door- gone!

But the following night he was still worried. So I popped back after I'd managed to get him off to sleep, and put up two signs that I'd knocked up quickly:

Just so everyone's clear on the rules around here...

We were woken up next morning by peals of laughter coming from his room. He obviously saw the funny side and we've had no closet problems since (no double entendre intended!). Mission accomplished.