Creepy Kids and Changing the Clocks: The Week in Parenting

October 31, 2020

A roundup of new guidance and stories from NYT Parenting.

Golden Cosmos

This week, NYT Parenting reporter Christina Caron explored a burning spooky-season question: Why are our children so darn creepy? She talked to parents whose kids told them things like, “I wouldn’t sleep in your bedroom if I were you,” because “skeleton men” haunted their creaky old house. Christina also talked to psychologists who explained that our terrifying children are developmentally normal. “It’s a way of them expressing their fears,” Sandra Russ, a child psychologist, said. “Adults talk it out; children play it out.”

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We asked readers for stories of their children being extremely creepy, and boy did you all deliver. Here’s a sampling:

My 2-year-old sometimes looks out the window into the backyard and says, “I know she’s out there.” When we asked who “she” is, he just ignores us. This has happened multiple times. —Rachel Wynia, Greenville, S.C.

When my son Milo was 3, he started talking about a being named Ifigowa who came to visit him sometimes. Ifigowa lived far away and wasn’t a kid or an adult, but he had a yellow face and black eyes. This went on for months — we’d hear Milo chatting to him when he played with toys. He didn’t seem scared. One day I asked him who Ifigowa was and, very casually, Milo said, “Oh, he’s just my master.” — Natalie Ponte, Weston, Conn.

Went to the pumpkin patch and my 5-year-old exclaims upon entering, “This looks like a good place to set a fire!” — Natalie Lambert, Fontana, Calif.

Do you have sinister kid stories of your own? Share them in the comments.

Also on the Halloween front: Dani Blum has advice for how to trick-or-treat safely and Kimberly Rex has an essay about what it’s like to be a medically high-risk mom forced to make agonizing decisions between your own health and your child’s crushing disappointment.

We also have a couple of pieces about education this week, including a feature from Amelia Nierenberg about how schools across the country are using outdoor space to expand their classrooms, and some advice from Lisa Damour, our adolescence columnist, for parents whose teens are losing motivation during this bizarre school year.

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Adding to the creepiness of Halloween, a full moon will appear Saturday. Nicholas St. Fleur is here with a guide to stargazing with your kids, including this true tidbit your children will love: “Uranus does smell like farts.”

It’s also the end of daylight saving time. We have expert guidance from Craig Canapari, the director of the pediatric sleep center at Yale-New Haven Hospital, on how to prep your little ones for the time change this weekend, without bedtime going completely off the rails.

Finally, as if anyone could forget, Tuesday Nov. 3 is Election Day. Melinda Wenner Moyer has advice on how to talk to your kids about election stress.

Thanks for reading.

— Jessica Grose, columnist, NYT Parenting

THIS WEEK IN NYT PARENTING

Janik Söllner

Forget Halloween. Children Are Frightening Year-Round.

Why little kids have a special ability to creep out their parents.

By Christina Caron

Getty Images

Trick-or-Treating This Year? Here’s How

Depending on the incidence of coronavirus in your community, it may be safe to trick-or-treat in a modified way.

By Dani Blum

Sonia Pulido

For a High Risk-Mom, Halloween Feels Extra Tricky

Another pandemic holiday means another impossible decision between my health and my children’s happiness.

By Kimberly Rex

Andrea Morales for The New York Times

Classrooms Without Walls, and Hopefully Covid

To combat the coronavirus, schools across America moved students outdoors. Here’s a look at four new learning environments.

By Amelia Nierenberg

Giacomo Bagnara

How to Prepare Babies and Kids for the End of Daylight Saving Time

For parents of small children, ‘falling back’ doesn’t mean an extra hour in bed. But the right plan can help ease the change.

By Craig Canapari, M.D.

Fran Caballero

Adolescence

How to Do School When Motivation Has Gone Missing

Here’s what teenagers can do to equip themselves to move forward during this difficult and frustrating time.

By Lisa Damour

Jon Han

How To See the Halloween Blue Moon (and Uranus!) With Your Kids

“The Uranus jokes never end,” an astronomer said.

By Nicholas St. Fleur

Giulia Sagramola

How to Talk About the Election With Your Kids

Even if you’re stressed.

By Melinda Wenner Moyer

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Tiny Victories

Parenting can be a grind. Let’s celebrate the tiny victories.

I discovered that my 4-year-old will practice writing their letters without complaining if I put on Halloween-themed music to set the mood. No whining, complaining or bargaining about “school time” today! — Nicole Rogers, Madison, Wisconsin

If you want a chance to get your Tiny Victory published, find us on Instagram @NYTparenting and use the hashtag #tinyvictories; email us; or enter your Tiny Victory at the bottom of this page. Include your full name and location. Tiny Victories may be edited for clarity and style. Your name, location and comments may be published, but your contact information will not. By submitting to us, you agree that you have read, understand and accept the Reader Submission Terms in relation to all of the content and other information you send to us.

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