What’s something traumatizing that your Mom said to you as a child that you still remember?

I used to hate to go to bed and would stand next to the bed but refused to get in it, so my mom would tell me that there were monsters under my bed that would grab my ankles and drag me under the bed and kill me. To this day, when I stand next to my bed, for a second or two I wonder if there’s a monster underneath.

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Heartlander

mom would tell me that there were monsters

I spent one of my college year summers working as a summer camp counselor at a YMCA camp and I still remember one 9 or 10 year old kid that was so frightened of the water that he went into panic mode at just the mention of going to the pool or going swimming. 100 kids splashing in the pool, having a blast, and this one kid as far away as possible, back against the wall, terrified that one of the other kids might push him into the pool.

It was the same "monster" thing. His mom had drilled him from birth that there were monsters in the lake, in the ocean, in the river, in the pool and even in a puddle. So he had to be careful and never go in the water.

Mardrae · 61-69, F

@Heartlander oh wow- that poor kid!! And really nothing you can say to ease his fears become it was so ingrained into his brain.