One more for tonight.....
A coworker of mine's husband plays Santa every year for the kid's Christmas party. He has done this for about 9 years now. Every year he sneaks into the upstairs room of the center to change into his Santa costume and then comes down with a Ho Ho Ho. Afterward, he always goes back into that room to change into his street clothes and head home. It's the only room up there because it's actually the converted garage.
So fine, last year he finished his Santa job and went out the door. I assumed he went into the garage to change back to his normal clothes, and I waited a few minutes because I had a few more of the kids' presents to take up there. That is also where our coat room and cubbies are. I figured I had waited a decent amount of time, and hauled the gifts up the stairs. I stopped outside the door and called out "Are ya' decent?' and I heard his reply but wasnt exactly sure if he meant Yes or No. The door to that room does not go all the way down to the floor, there is about a 6 inch gap. I could hear his voice coming out from beneath and through the door, a male voice, clearly talking, but not make out his actual words. I pushed open the door a couple of inches and called out around it "Sorry, I didnt hear you" or whatever, something like that. I was met with silence. Total silence. I thought 'What the heck?" and I peeked carefully around the door to make sure I was not catching Santa in his birthday suit - but the room was completely empty. I was shocked.
I had worked there for almost 18 years at the time, 7 of them consecutively, so I am used to the sounds of the area and how voices carry from outside the walls, etc. The garage is heavily insulated, the doors are metal, and I rarely hear anyone talking from outside even when I am right inside the garage.... so what the heck happened? I heard him - or some man - answer me. I could almost make out the words, the voice was very deep, definitely saying a short sentence of a few words - but no one was there. It freaked me out so much, I ran in there, threw the presents in the cubbies as fast as I could, and ran back down the stairs. Yes, I am brave lol. I stayed long enough to confirm that the room was indeed empty, since it's my job to keep the kids safe and we cant have a stranger in the daycare obviously, but then I got the hell out of there.
I came back in the main center looking a bit weird, so my coworker asked what was up. I said "oh, I thought your hubby was still in the garage" and she said "no, he came here already dressed today cos he thought it would be funny to drive around as Santa, so he just left right away". I said 'Oh' but then filled her in later on what really happened. She was floored. She has heard the odd voice here and there, but I hadn't, so it was a new thing to everyone. We never tell our boss these stories because it's actually in her home lol, but the rest of us share experiences and there have been a lot over the years. I would love to talk to 3 former staff I worked with back in the 90s to see if they had strange things happen to them too, but I never run into them in a place where I could ask such questions. Maybe one day...
Monday, September 24, 2012
Story Time
A few years ago, when my daughter was in Kindergarten, she was reading a book to me on the couch. She was laying at one end, and I was laying at the other. Just having a nice quiet time while everyone else was out of the room. Suddenly I noticed that while she was reading, she would start looking to her left furtively. Her reading would drop off for a second or two while she quickly turned her head, looked annoyed, and then turned back to continue reading. This happened several times but I didnt say anything. I thought perhaps an errant hair was sticking out past her head and she could see something but couldnt figure it out. So I just watched her. But then she changed from quickly turning her head, to slowly turning her head while she was peeking as far out of the corner of her eye as she could. It was starting to get bizarre, but I still just watched her.
There was nothing else beside or behind her aside from the wall and the front door of the house. She kept reading and darting her eyes to the left, like she was trying to catch sight of something sneaking up on her. Then she started to get really annoyed and would huff and puff and Grrrrrrrr when she turned and apparently saw nothing.
I finally said "What are you doing??" and she put the book down on her lap and said "That white light is really starting to annoy me". I said "What white light??" and she said "A bright white light. It's beside or behind me but when I turn my head to see it, it's gone, and then it comes back". She was annoyed and frustrated by something that I could not see and I had full view of her and everything beside and behind her the entire time.
I had a very sudden vision or impression of my grandmother, my dad's mom, standing a little behind her and watching over her shoulder to see her reading. I dont know why that happened, and the 'impression' was gone as fast as it popped into my brain. I call it an impression because it's not like I 'saw' or envisioned my grandmother standing there, it's more like I felt it. It's so hard to explain. I don't recall anything like that happening before. So I said, really loud inside my head, 'Grandma if that's you, stand back a bit, cos my daughter can see you and it's distracting her!". My daughter picked up her book and started reading again, and I think she looked over her shoulder one more time, but that was it. She didn't look there again.
What was it? Heck if I know lol, but it was weird! Hasnt happened before or since then either.
There was nothing else beside or behind her aside from the wall and the front door of the house. She kept reading and darting her eyes to the left, like she was trying to catch sight of something sneaking up on her. Then she started to get really annoyed and would huff and puff and Grrrrrrrr when she turned and apparently saw nothing.
I finally said "What are you doing??" and she put the book down on her lap and said "That white light is really starting to annoy me". I said "What white light??" and she said "A bright white light. It's beside or behind me but when I turn my head to see it, it's gone, and then it comes back". She was annoyed and frustrated by something that I could not see and I had full view of her and everything beside and behind her the entire time.
I had a very sudden vision or impression of my grandmother, my dad's mom, standing a little behind her and watching over her shoulder to see her reading. I dont know why that happened, and the 'impression' was gone as fast as it popped into my brain. I call it an impression because it's not like I 'saw' or envisioned my grandmother standing there, it's more like I felt it. It's so hard to explain. I don't recall anything like that happening before. So I said, really loud inside my head, 'Grandma if that's you, stand back a bit, cos my daughter can see you and it's distracting her!". My daughter picked up her book and started reading again, and I think she looked over her shoulder one more time, but that was it. She didn't look there again.
What was it? Heck if I know lol, but it was weird! Hasnt happened before or since then either.
My Daughter
In the summer of 2005, my daughter was just about to turn 3. I lived across the street from a small copse of trees, a community mailbox, and a pond/park. We were leaving the house to head across the park to the local corner store, and she walked out in front of me. I turned to lock the door behind me when she said "Your dad says 'Hi'". I nearly dropped my keys, and froze in place. I said "Pardon?", and she repeated "Your dad says Hi". My dad died in 1996, before any of my children were born, and I rarely talked about him to my children because I did not want to confuse youngsters with talk of death and dying yet. My oldest child was almost 8 at the time but was not with us. I did not know how to handle this sudden, strange situation, but I had to get some answers.
I tried to be as casual as possible, but still could not make myself turn around. I said "Who says Hi?" and she was very frustrated in her answers to me from then on. She said, loudly and toddler-obnoxiously - "YOUR DAD" (like I was some sort of idiot for not hearing her the first two times). I turned to face her and she was standing half way down our long sidewalk, looking at me like I was stupid. I said something like "oh okay, so..... where is my dad?" and she pointed across the street, in the direction of the mail box or the trees behind and beside it, and said in an even more frustrated tone "He is RIGHT OVER THERE!". I nearly fainted. I thought perhaps I had led her into that answer by asking her where he was, but I did not know another way in my stunned frame of mind to ask. I said something like "WHERE is my dad?" and she really got annoyed with me then and said "He is RIGHT OVER THERE, with your grandma".
Well, that was it for me. I was ready to run for the hills. My dad's mother passed away a few years after he did and that's all I could think about. Was my dad really standing there across the road, with his mother? Was this some way to let me know that they were together? Had my daughter seen them before? What the heck was happening? I didn't want to read too much into it, but it is really hard to process how she could have come up with this stuff. For one thing, she had never met my grandmothers. They live on the total opposite side of Canada, and I have only seen them a few times myself. I do not have photos of them around, or my father for that matter, and I did not chat with them on the phone for her to hear, etc. It was just too weird for her to say something like that, so out of the blue.
Then my daughter said "Your dad says he likes you, he doesn't love you, but he likes you". She was a bit more halting while saying all of that. She was an excellent talker for her age, but was still only 2 years old, a couple weeks or so from turning 3.Her words were loud and clear and while she seemed final in her speaking, she still seemed a bit confused or unsure in that last sentence. I said 'Oh Okay' and then realized that we should get going to the store, and we started to cross the street. She never said anything else about it and did not look or point to that area again. I could not bring myself to look there either, afraid I would see a shimmer in the air or something lol. But as we passed that spot, I muttered under my breath "Hi Dad. Don't do that to me again!". I did not say it mean, but more like 'you scared the living crap out of me, please dont do that again'. I regret saying that because I have always wondered if it was really him, or really them, and if they might have appeared another time with a message. I dont know what my daughter meant when she said 'he likes you, but doesnt love you' but if it was indeed some sort of message from my dad, I think she was too young to interpret it properly, or something, because I cant see my dad saying something like that directly lol. But whatever. It was without a doubt the weirdest day of my life.
I should also point out that my daughter called my mom Grammie, not grandma. That was not a term she used for anyone at that time, so it was extra kind of weird for her to say it.
I tried to be as casual as possible, but still could not make myself turn around. I said "Who says Hi?" and she was very frustrated in her answers to me from then on. She said, loudly and toddler-obnoxiously - "YOUR DAD" (like I was some sort of idiot for not hearing her the first two times). I turned to face her and she was standing half way down our long sidewalk, looking at me like I was stupid. I said something like "oh okay, so..... where is my dad?" and she pointed across the street, in the direction of the mail box or the trees behind and beside it, and said in an even more frustrated tone "He is RIGHT OVER THERE!". I nearly fainted. I thought perhaps I had led her into that answer by asking her where he was, but I did not know another way in my stunned frame of mind to ask. I said something like "WHERE is my dad?" and she really got annoyed with me then and said "He is RIGHT OVER THERE, with your grandma".
Well, that was it for me. I was ready to run for the hills. My dad's mother passed away a few years after he did and that's all I could think about. Was my dad really standing there across the road, with his mother? Was this some way to let me know that they were together? Had my daughter seen them before? What the heck was happening? I didn't want to read too much into it, but it is really hard to process how she could have come up with this stuff. For one thing, she had never met my grandmothers. They live on the total opposite side of Canada, and I have only seen them a few times myself. I do not have photos of them around, or my father for that matter, and I did not chat with them on the phone for her to hear, etc. It was just too weird for her to say something like that, so out of the blue.
Then my daughter said "Your dad says he likes you, he doesn't love you, but he likes you". She was a bit more halting while saying all of that. She was an excellent talker for her age, but was still only 2 years old, a couple weeks or so from turning 3.Her words were loud and clear and while she seemed final in her speaking, she still seemed a bit confused or unsure in that last sentence. I said 'Oh Okay' and then realized that we should get going to the store, and we started to cross the street. She never said anything else about it and did not look or point to that area again. I could not bring myself to look there either, afraid I would see a shimmer in the air or something lol. But as we passed that spot, I muttered under my breath "Hi Dad. Don't do that to me again!". I did not say it mean, but more like 'you scared the living crap out of me, please dont do that again'. I regret saying that because I have always wondered if it was really him, or really them, and if they might have appeared another time with a message. I dont know what my daughter meant when she said 'he likes you, but doesnt love you' but if it was indeed some sort of message from my dad, I think she was too young to interpret it properly, or something, because I cant see my dad saying something like that directly lol. But whatever. It was without a doubt the weirdest day of my life.
I should also point out that my daughter called my mom Grammie, not grandma. That was not a term she used for anyone at that time, so it was extra kind of weird for her to say it.
Who Is That?
Today at work, there was only myself and one of the older children in the Wake Up Room for an hour and a half while all of the younger children napped. We had been hanging out for over an hour already and the little boy was standing right beside me, when he suddenly jumped a bit and said in a laughing voice "Who IS that?" and then he darted quickly behind a bookcase and then just stopped short, looking confused but still smiling too. He was saying 'Where did you go?' and then lifted up a bean bag from the reading corner, and then he really looked perplexed.
I said "What are you doing?" (already wondering what the heck he thought he saw), and he said "I saw someone over here, so I thought it was ****" (another child, who was napping in a different room). He looked around a bit more, and then came back to me at the table. I casually said "What did you see?" and he shook his head and said "I don't know". Then he thought about it and said "I don't know what I saw, but I thought it was ****, but no one is over there".
I left it at that. But that is now 3 children in the past month commenting on seeing someone that I cannot see, 3 different ages, and children that I have worked with for several years and never had a similar experience with before. Strange.
________________
An update on this story. I had the chance to share this occurrence with coworkers the next day and one looked shocked. She shared what happened to her with another child that same afternoon. A 4 year old girl said "I see a brown girl". My coworker said "Huh?" and the girl was looking at an area of the center that has a blue door, a wall mural of frogs, and a puzzle shelf. She said "I see a brown girl". My coworker was confused, looking at the wall and the puzzles for something resembling a 'brown girl', but there is nothing remotely human-like over there. So she said "Where is she?", and the little kiddo said "She is RIGHT THERE" and pointed toward the door or space beside the puzzle shelf. It dawned on my coworker that something strange was happening. So she asked again where she is, and the girl was sounding exasperated and repeated "she is RIGHT there".... my coworker said "Um, what does she look like?" and the girl responded "She is wearing a dress". Then a second later said "Oop. She's gone now" and the girl just walked away.
So is there a little brown girl visiting us? Or what? Could it be the same thing the little boy in my group saw earlier that day? Who the heck knows. But it was certainly funky that this happened to two of us on the same day, without the other having any previous knowledge of an occurrence.
I said "What are you doing?" (already wondering what the heck he thought he saw), and he said "I saw someone over here, so I thought it was ****" (another child, who was napping in a different room). He looked around a bit more, and then came back to me at the table. I casually said "What did you see?" and he shook his head and said "I don't know". Then he thought about it and said "I don't know what I saw, but I thought it was ****, but no one is over there".
I left it at that. But that is now 3 children in the past month commenting on seeing someone that I cannot see, 3 different ages, and children that I have worked with for several years and never had a similar experience with before. Strange.
________________
An update on this story. I had the chance to share this occurrence with coworkers the next day and one looked shocked. She shared what happened to her with another child that same afternoon. A 4 year old girl said "I see a brown girl". My coworker said "Huh?" and the girl was looking at an area of the center that has a blue door, a wall mural of frogs, and a puzzle shelf. She said "I see a brown girl". My coworker was confused, looking at the wall and the puzzles for something resembling a 'brown girl', but there is nothing remotely human-like over there. So she said "Where is she?", and the little kiddo said "She is RIGHT THERE" and pointed toward the door or space beside the puzzle shelf. It dawned on my coworker that something strange was happening. So she asked again where she is, and the girl was sounding exasperated and repeated "she is RIGHT there".... my coworker said "Um, what does she look like?" and the girl responded "She is wearing a dress". Then a second later said "Oop. She's gone now" and the girl just walked away.
So is there a little brown girl visiting us? Or what? Could it be the same thing the little boy in my group saw earlier that day? Who the heck knows. But it was certainly funky that this happened to two of us on the same day, without the other having any previous knowledge of an occurrence.
Monday, September 3, 2012
The Elbow
My family likes to hide and jump out to try to scare the bejeezus out of one another. It's a fun pass time :) So, about 3 or 4 years ago, when I was in the basement doing laundry, and I saw something out of the corner of my eye, I didnt think much of it, and braced myself for my son to jump out and scare me.
I should point out that my basement is completely open. It's not finished at all, so it's just a set of stairs (with open steps, as in, you can see through each tread), next to the laundry, and behind you when you are standing at the laundry is the hot water tank and furnace. Otherwise, everything else is just 4 cement walls.
So there I am at the washing machine, putting in a load, when I see movement at the right of me. That's where the stairs are too. I turned my head in time to see what I swore was the elbow of my then-10 or 11 year old son. It was white, bent at the elbow, and disappearing behind the hot water tank. I thought 'oh you little turd, how did you get down the stairs without me seeing you?' and I waited for him to scare me. I didnt want to disappoint him after he did so well sneaking past me on the stairs. I waiting a few seconds but nothing happened. I got bored, so thought I would scare the crap out of HIM instead. I snuck around the other side of the tank and furnace and found - NOTHING.
No one was there. I just about wet myself (seriously, it freaked me out totally), and I tossed the rest of the stuff in the washer, slammed down the lid, and ran up the stairs as fast as I could. The family were all where I left them - sitting together on the couch watching a movie. My bf saw the look on my face, and I was out of breath, and he said 'whats wrong with you?'.
I said 'oh nothing, someone was just trying to play hide and seek with me in the basement, and it wasnt any of you guys'. then I walked to the bedroom to calm down lol.
I dont know what I saw, but I have not seen it since. The pale white like my son's skin still stands out in my mind, at the right height for him at the time, the windows down there are very small and old, and do not face a street, etc. I wear glasses but I have for almost 30 years now so I am used to what I see as reflections and can normally figure that out instantly anyway.. this felt different. I was completely sure that my son was there to play our little game, and flipped out when he wasnt.
I should point out that my basement is completely open. It's not finished at all, so it's just a set of stairs (with open steps, as in, you can see through each tread), next to the laundry, and behind you when you are standing at the laundry is the hot water tank and furnace. Otherwise, everything else is just 4 cement walls.
So there I am at the washing machine, putting in a load, when I see movement at the right of me. That's where the stairs are too. I turned my head in time to see what I swore was the elbow of my then-10 or 11 year old son. It was white, bent at the elbow, and disappearing behind the hot water tank. I thought 'oh you little turd, how did you get down the stairs without me seeing you?' and I waited for him to scare me. I didnt want to disappoint him after he did so well sneaking past me on the stairs. I waiting a few seconds but nothing happened. I got bored, so thought I would scare the crap out of HIM instead. I snuck around the other side of the tank and furnace and found - NOTHING.
No one was there. I just about wet myself (seriously, it freaked me out totally), and I tossed the rest of the stuff in the washer, slammed down the lid, and ran up the stairs as fast as I could. The family were all where I left them - sitting together on the couch watching a movie. My bf saw the look on my face, and I was out of breath, and he said 'whats wrong with you?'.
I said 'oh nothing, someone was just trying to play hide and seek with me in the basement, and it wasnt any of you guys'. then I walked to the bedroom to calm down lol.
I dont know what I saw, but I have not seen it since. The pale white like my son's skin still stands out in my mind, at the right height for him at the time, the windows down there are very small and old, and do not face a street, etc. I wear glasses but I have for almost 30 years now so I am used to what I see as reflections and can normally figure that out instantly anyway.. this felt different. I was completely sure that my son was there to play our little game, and flipped out when he wasnt.
The Door
One afternoon at my old house, around 2006, my ex boyfriend and I were sitting in my living room on the couch. Directly behind us was a half-wall that divided my living room from the stairs to the basement. We were watching tv when suddenly, a door slammed SO hard, we both jumped and peered over the wall to the basement. It was so loud, and I also 'felt' the door slam - like a change in air pressure in my ears or something. We both looked at each other and then went down the stairs.... only to find all of the doors (3) were OPEN. Wide open. I lived in a duplex but the other side was empty at the time, but I didnt think that loud of sound could come from next door either, especially since I felt the slam like a change in the air too. Kind of like when you're in a car and someone else gets in and slams the door, while all the windows are up... anyway so he says 'is there a window open?' - thinking perhaps a breeze caught the door and slammed it, but it hadnt latched so just popped wide open again. But all of the windows were closed tightly, as were all of the windows upstairs. It was just plain strange. I had heard a door slam like that in my place once before, but I was alone so you kind of convince yourself that you were just hearing things --- this time I was with another person and he heard it too. He was as baffled as I was and said something like 'That was LOUD'. I said 'I know'. But we never figured it out.
What I didnt like is that a few months later, I was alone and got myself all freaked out reading about ghost stories on the net, so I didnt want to sleep downstairs in my bedroom. I slept on the couch upstairs instead. In the morning, I got up to run downstairs to get clothes for work - and I stopped dead in my tracks at the bottom of the stairs because all three doors were closed tightly. I have a habit of NOT closing my doors - EVER - because I dont like the thought of opening them to find a person standing there lol. Ive felt like that for a long time, but as a single mom this became stronger. I dont know why, that's just the way it is. So to find all of my doors closed, when I had just been down there the day before to do laundry and to wake up for work the previous morning and left the doors open as usual, it freaked me right out.
And to top it all off, when I finally got moving again and went to carefully open my bedroom door, I found that a latch/hinge for a padlock at the very top of my door frame was CLOSED. I did not put that lock on there, it's from a previous tennant, and there is no padlock - but the hinge part was swung totally closed over the latch and tightly. I could not figure that out. I even videoed myself trying to open and shut the door that day, seeing if slamming it would budge the hinge enough to jump it over the latch, but I could not get that to happen at all because the latch and hinge are not lined up properly. In order to flip the hinge over the latch by hand, I had to hold the door handle and lift the door up half a cm or more, and then use my other hand to flip the hinge over. It was just SO weird. And again, none of my windows were open anyway, so Im not sure how the door could have slammed itself shut, engaging the locking hinge, and do that without waking me up and do it even though the hinge and latch were not lined up properly. I also had to push quite hard to get the hinge over the latch because it was old and dirty or rusty. It was not moving smoothly at all.
Some friends suggested that I did it in my sleep, a sleepwalking adventure that led to me closing 3 basement doors and latching the lock - but I do not have a history of sleepwalking (my kids and brother do, I should point out), and the latch was way too high for my young children to reach anyway (I could barely reach on my tiptoes)... and there are no chairs or anything down there to stand on.
So... what happened? I have no idea. But the doors in that place liked to open, shut, or SLAM, and I have a witness to one event.
What I didnt like is that a few months later, I was alone and got myself all freaked out reading about ghost stories on the net, so I didnt want to sleep downstairs in my bedroom. I slept on the couch upstairs instead. In the morning, I got up to run downstairs to get clothes for work - and I stopped dead in my tracks at the bottom of the stairs because all three doors were closed tightly. I have a habit of NOT closing my doors - EVER - because I dont like the thought of opening them to find a person standing there lol. Ive felt like that for a long time, but as a single mom this became stronger. I dont know why, that's just the way it is. So to find all of my doors closed, when I had just been down there the day before to do laundry and to wake up for work the previous morning and left the doors open as usual, it freaked me right out.
And to top it all off, when I finally got moving again and went to carefully open my bedroom door, I found that a latch/hinge for a padlock at the very top of my door frame was CLOSED. I did not put that lock on there, it's from a previous tennant, and there is no padlock - but the hinge part was swung totally closed over the latch and tightly. I could not figure that out. I even videoed myself trying to open and shut the door that day, seeing if slamming it would budge the hinge enough to jump it over the latch, but I could not get that to happen at all because the latch and hinge are not lined up properly. In order to flip the hinge over the latch by hand, I had to hold the door handle and lift the door up half a cm or more, and then use my other hand to flip the hinge over. It was just SO weird. And again, none of my windows were open anyway, so Im not sure how the door could have slammed itself shut, engaging the locking hinge, and do that without waking me up and do it even though the hinge and latch were not lined up properly. I also had to push quite hard to get the hinge over the latch because it was old and dirty or rusty. It was not moving smoothly at all.
Some friends suggested that I did it in my sleep, a sleepwalking adventure that led to me closing 3 basement doors and latching the lock - but I do not have a history of sleepwalking (my kids and brother do, I should point out), and the latch was way too high for my young children to reach anyway (I could barely reach on my tiptoes)... and there are no chairs or anything down there to stand on.
So... what happened? I have no idea. But the doors in that place liked to open, shut, or SLAM, and I have a witness to one event.
The Hallway
Just a short one here - I moved with my family to a new home in the city when I was 12. I lived in that house until I was 19. Several, countless times over those years, I would see something out of the corner of my eye while sitting in the living room. It always seemed to be something high off the floor, like chest to head level on a tall man, moving from left to right down the hallway that all of the bedrooms came off of. My bedroom was to the right, the only room on that side. I always found it strange because it had no form in my vision, it was just a 'shape', like catching the shadow from something... but there are no windows in that hall and the bedroom windows are in various places, but this would happen at night as well as during the day. I could never figure it out. I only knew that it bothered me when it kept happening, because whatever it was moved toward MY bedroom. The only other doorway there was the ceiling hole that went into the attic, right outside my bedroom door. Either way - attic or my bedroom, I didn't like it, but could never make sense of it or catch it in my full vision.
I am now almost 40 and less than a decade ago, my younger brother and I were chatting and somehow got to talking about strange events, or ghost stories. He floored me by saying that something in our old house used to bother him... and then he went on to explain seeing 'something' move down the bedroom hallway, always out of the corner of his eye. I could not believe my ears! I said 'What direction was it going in?' and he was uncomfortable but said 'always toward where your door was'. I told him that I saw the same thing for YEARS and he was shocked. He is 6 years younger than me, and lived in that house until he was 18 (when I was 24), and he said he doesnt seem to recall seeing it when he was a little kid, but did when he was a teen.
So I don't know what it was, it was just nice to have the story matched by another person, so I didn't feel quite so insane :) He said it was like a shadow, up high, and moving fast. Same as me. Very odd. Mom sold that house around 2003. I would love to know if other people experienced it, but I most likely never will.
I am now almost 40 and less than a decade ago, my younger brother and I were chatting and somehow got to talking about strange events, or ghost stories. He floored me by saying that something in our old house used to bother him... and then he went on to explain seeing 'something' move down the bedroom hallway, always out of the corner of his eye. I could not believe my ears! I said 'What direction was it going in?' and he was uncomfortable but said 'always toward where your door was'. I told him that I saw the same thing for YEARS and he was shocked. He is 6 years younger than me, and lived in that house until he was 18 (when I was 24), and he said he doesnt seem to recall seeing it when he was a little kid, but did when he was a teen.
So I don't know what it was, it was just nice to have the story matched by another person, so I didn't feel quite so insane :) He said it was like a shadow, up high, and moving fast. Same as me. Very odd. Mom sold that house around 2003. I would love to know if other people experienced it, but I most likely never will.
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Past Experiences at work
I mentioned in my previous posting that there have been other strange occurrences at my workplace in the past, which leads me to put more weight to what has happened recently.
The two most startling that come to mind are as follows:
About 3 years ago, my coworker and I were sitting at a table chatting quietly while the rest of the children were napping. The lights were out, the room was dim, the blinds closed on the windows to just let in soft light around the edges, etc. It is difficult to explain the layout of the center to those unfamiliar with it, but I will do my best. From where we were seated, there was a hallway where my then- one year old son was sleeping, along with 3 other children, which then leads to the very back room where our most recent experiences were, and then there is a large carpeted open area where 6 children were sleeping. Blocking my direct view of my child and others in the hall-like part were two large Rubbermaid containers, stacked on top of each other. My son slept directly on the other side of that, with the rest of his buddies sleeping further from the tote boxes. I was facing the boxes, and my coworker was seated sideways, her profile facing the tote boxes. We were just chatting, blah blah blah, when I saw a dark shadowed head start to peek up over the boxes. At that exact moment, my coworker turned her head to face that direction, and I glanced at her. When I glanced back, I could not see the little child-sized head any longer. We both immediately assumed that my son was awake and had stood up to peek over the boxes. My coworker was out of her chair to check on him before I could have time to move, and I was saying 'that little TURKEY! I thought he was asleep!' as she walked over to tell him to catch him in the act of being a sneak. But when she quickly walked the 8 or so feet to the boxes, she stopped dead in her tracks instead of talking to my son.
She looked at me and said 'come here'. I still thought I would find my son being a goof and about to get in 'trouble', but as I rounded the totes, I instead found him still sleeping on his belly, as usual, blanket perfectly covering him, as were all of the other children - ZZZzzzzz asleep without any blankets disturbed. I was shocked. What the heck? What did I see?
My coworker and I walked silently back to our chairs, and then I said 'What did you think you saw?' and she said 'someone was about to peek over the box. I assumed it was your kid'. I could not believe my ears. She saw the same thing I did, at the exact same time, and also thought it had to be MY son because he slept directly on the other side of the totes. They were high, he would have had to completely stand up to see over them at that young age, or someone else would have had to stand on his head to do it. But they were all laying down, perfectly covered up as we had left them, and there is no way a one year old or and two year old can jump back into bed, lay on their tummy, and cover themselves up perfectly from behind. There are extremely few who can manage it even when they take their time and are laying on their backs, let alone in the 2-3 seconds it took for my coworker to walk over there, and the 5 seconds it probably took me. What happened? We will never know, but we both saw a darker head when my son's hair was very light blonde at the time, which confused us too. Weird.
But speaking of blondies, this leads to my next odd experience. It involves the same back room featured in my previous posting. When it's not nap time, that room is called 'Dress Up' and it is the toddler's most favorite place to play. Full of Little Tykes kitchens, tables, chairs, toy food, dress up clothing, doctor kits, a kiddie hair salon with all the perks, etc. We have a lot of trouble keeping the little monkeys out of there when it's time to clean up or go home. They love it. They are always escaping to that back room when they are supposed to be sitting for a story or playing in another room. I have chased endless toddlers around in Dress Up, trying to get them to go home with mommy, or get them out for a diaper change, so it's nothing new lol.
Therefore, it did not surprise me at all one day, about a year ago, when I was walking near the room and saw a little white-blonde head dash past the door. The daycare is in a house and the Dress Up room was a bedroom in the former owner's home, so it has a standard-sized doorway. I saw the little person run past the door, on the inside of dress-up, and I marched toward it laughing and saying 'Alright! WHO'S IN HERE!' in a mock-grumpy voice..... I stopped in the door with my hands on my hips, ready to herd the escaped toddler back with the main group..... but the room was empty. No one inside it at all. There is only one way in, so only one way out. And certainly no one passed me. I was floored once again. I went into the room to check under the table and behind the kitchen sets, but nope. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero children.
I walked back out with a funny look on my face, trying to remember what I saw and wondered what happened, and a coworker said 'what are you doing?'. I simply replied 'oh, I just saw a little blonde head bob past the door in dressup, so I went to go get them out, but no one was there'. She said 'oh' because similar things have happened to her from time to time. I did not see a face clearly, or arms or legs really, I just remember focusing for a split second on the top of a very white blonde head, very 'shiny', short haired, and there is only one child at the center with that color, and she was not even there that day. I joked and said 'maybe 'A' is here is spirit today instead of being on holiday with her parents?' and my coworker gave a nervous laugh and then we left it at that.
So I dont know what is up. There have been other things occurring there, but mainly what others have experienced and I cannot recall all of the details. There IS one more story to tell another day that happened to me that totally blew my mind, but I will save that for another time :)
The two most startling that come to mind are as follows:
About 3 years ago, my coworker and I were sitting at a table chatting quietly while the rest of the children were napping. The lights were out, the room was dim, the blinds closed on the windows to just let in soft light around the edges, etc. It is difficult to explain the layout of the center to those unfamiliar with it, but I will do my best. From where we were seated, there was a hallway where my then- one year old son was sleeping, along with 3 other children, which then leads to the very back room where our most recent experiences were, and then there is a large carpeted open area where 6 children were sleeping. Blocking my direct view of my child and others in the hall-like part were two large Rubbermaid containers, stacked on top of each other. My son slept directly on the other side of that, with the rest of his buddies sleeping further from the tote boxes. I was facing the boxes, and my coworker was seated sideways, her profile facing the tote boxes. We were just chatting, blah blah blah, when I saw a dark shadowed head start to peek up over the boxes. At that exact moment, my coworker turned her head to face that direction, and I glanced at her. When I glanced back, I could not see the little child-sized head any longer. We both immediately assumed that my son was awake and had stood up to peek over the boxes. My coworker was out of her chair to check on him before I could have time to move, and I was saying 'that little TURKEY! I thought he was asleep!' as she walked over to tell him to catch him in the act of being a sneak. But when she quickly walked the 8 or so feet to the boxes, she stopped dead in her tracks instead of talking to my son.
She looked at me and said 'come here'. I still thought I would find my son being a goof and about to get in 'trouble', but as I rounded the totes, I instead found him still sleeping on his belly, as usual, blanket perfectly covering him, as were all of the other children - ZZZzzzzz asleep without any blankets disturbed. I was shocked. What the heck? What did I see?
My coworker and I walked silently back to our chairs, and then I said 'What did you think you saw?' and she said 'someone was about to peek over the box. I assumed it was your kid'. I could not believe my ears. She saw the same thing I did, at the exact same time, and also thought it had to be MY son because he slept directly on the other side of the totes. They were high, he would have had to completely stand up to see over them at that young age, or someone else would have had to stand on his head to do it. But they were all laying down, perfectly covered up as we had left them, and there is no way a one year old or and two year old can jump back into bed, lay on their tummy, and cover themselves up perfectly from behind. There are extremely few who can manage it even when they take their time and are laying on their backs, let alone in the 2-3 seconds it took for my coworker to walk over there, and the 5 seconds it probably took me. What happened? We will never know, but we both saw a darker head when my son's hair was very light blonde at the time, which confused us too. Weird.
But speaking of blondies, this leads to my next odd experience. It involves the same back room featured in my previous posting. When it's not nap time, that room is called 'Dress Up' and it is the toddler's most favorite place to play. Full of Little Tykes kitchens, tables, chairs, toy food, dress up clothing, doctor kits, a kiddie hair salon with all the perks, etc. We have a lot of trouble keeping the little monkeys out of there when it's time to clean up or go home. They love it. They are always escaping to that back room when they are supposed to be sitting for a story or playing in another room. I have chased endless toddlers around in Dress Up, trying to get them to go home with mommy, or get them out for a diaper change, so it's nothing new lol.
Therefore, it did not surprise me at all one day, about a year ago, when I was walking near the room and saw a little white-blonde head dash past the door. The daycare is in a house and the Dress Up room was a bedroom in the former owner's home, so it has a standard-sized doorway. I saw the little person run past the door, on the inside of dress-up, and I marched toward it laughing and saying 'Alright! WHO'S IN HERE!' in a mock-grumpy voice..... I stopped in the door with my hands on my hips, ready to herd the escaped toddler back with the main group..... but the room was empty. No one inside it at all. There is only one way in, so only one way out. And certainly no one passed me. I was floored once again. I went into the room to check under the table and behind the kitchen sets, but nope. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zero children.
I walked back out with a funny look on my face, trying to remember what I saw and wondered what happened, and a coworker said 'what are you doing?'. I simply replied 'oh, I just saw a little blonde head bob past the door in dressup, so I went to go get them out, but no one was there'. She said 'oh' because similar things have happened to her from time to time. I did not see a face clearly, or arms or legs really, I just remember focusing for a split second on the top of a very white blonde head, very 'shiny', short haired, and there is only one child at the center with that color, and she was not even there that day. I joked and said 'maybe 'A' is here is spirit today instead of being on holiday with her parents?' and my coworker gave a nervous laugh and then we left it at that.
So I dont know what is up. There have been other things occurring there, but mainly what others have experienced and I cannot recall all of the details. There IS one more story to tell another day that happened to me that totally blew my mind, but I will save that for another time :)
There Is A Stranger Here
I work in childcare and have done for over 20 years. Occasionally, strange things have happened but the most recent has been happening for the past month.
It started with a coworker coming to me out of breath, to tell me a story of how she was just down in the sleeping room, lying next to a three year old girl, when the girl suddenly said 'I don't like that man in the mirror'. My coworker looked toward the small wall mirror, to see if there was perhaps a doll or wall picture in her view that was bothering her. But there was nothing. All that she could see, even putting her face right next to the little girl's head, was the blank light-blue wall. Meanwhile, the little girl had covered her head with her blanket. We have known this girl for almost 3 years now and she has always slept in that very same spot, and she has never made such comments before, nor has she ever seemed afraid in there.She also does not like sleeping with the blanket even close to her face, let alone covering her head. It was weird, but my coworker chalked it up to imagination and carried on rubbing her back to help her fall asleep. A few minutes later, the little girl peeked out from under her blanket and yelled quite loudly "GO AWAY" and then covered herself AND my coworker up with her blanket, making sure their faces were both totally tucked away. My coworker could barely manage to keep herself laying there 'normally' until the girl fell asleep, which is when she raced up to the room I was working in, to share the story. She didn't know what to make of it, just wanted to tell someone about it. I was not with any children at the time, just doing paperwork, so we could speak freely.
A couple of weeks later, so about 2 weeks ago, the same little girl and my coworker were again laying down getting ready to nap. My coworker had made a habit of laying between the girl and the mirror so she could not see in it anymore and freak herself out. As my coworker was laying there, she saw a shadow move behind her, reflected in the mirror, so she turned to look and see if perhaps one of the other children had tried to sneak off their sleeping mat or what, when at the exact moment, the little girl stated 'There is a stranger in here'. She then flipped the blanket up over her head again and did not move. My coworker was stunned, as she had seen the shadow, none of the children were off their mats, no other staff members were wandering around as it was their lunch break time, and I was upstairs with the older kids that no longer nap. She had to wait until after work to tell me this story, and again we did not know what to make of it.
Had the little girl been watching strange shows or movies? Had she been dreaming of something and it came back to her as she was falling asleep? What about the shadow my coworker saw? The window in that room looks out under a deck in the private yard of the building owner, and the blinds were closed tightly anyway. We have all worked in that place for 10-18 years each and do not see shadows randomly playing on the walls in that room EVER. So it was bizarre, but what can you do?
I took over a couple of days putting the little girl down for her nap and I did not see or hear anything. But after all of the kiddos were asleep, I said out loud into the room 'If anything is in here, STOP bothering this little girl.' I felt silly saying it, but also felt like I had at least tried, in case something WAS hanging around.
But then things got a little weirder and this time it involved me. The other stories I was not witness to, so I can only go by what I was told. But for the past little while, maybe a week or two, I have been annoyed at work by seeing things out of the corner of my eye. Even with the stories surrounding the little girl, and what I said in the room afterward, I did not put two and two together when I started seeing 'things'. Just that aggravating moment where you think you see something moving at the very edge of your vision so you turn your head, and find nothing, or find the source such as a curtain blowing in the wind, or whatever. But I would turn my head and not find the source - ever. I started wondering if I was having vision problems or high blood pressure issues (I have been told that very high BP can cause people to see spots in front of their eyes). But nothing seemed amiss, aside from these brief moments of 'grey' at the very very outer corner of my side vision.
Until Monday, this week. I was washing dishes at the sink. The children were all reading books or playing with toys on the main carpet area. It was nearing the end of the day and many had already gone home. There were three staff members in the building, including myself. The other two were watching over the children. So I am washing the dishes, not really thinking of anything, just getting the job done - when I see something more clearly from the corner of my eye. I see a form that I immediately assume is a person, but it appears kind of grey, like a thicker grey you might expect from thick smoke or something similar. It appeared in my vision as a person walking from my right to left, if I was facing the 'form', and leaning forward a bit, moving fairly quickly. I still did not think much of it, but I turned my head in curiousity, just to see who it was. I completely expected to see one of my coworkers moving among the children on the rug, though I was aware that my brain could not figure out which one of them it might be, as I did not recall seeing any color like from clothing, hair, etc. Just as I am realizing this is a bit weird, my head finishes turning - and I am facing a rug with NO ONE standing on it. No staff members, not even the children (though what I saw in my side vision was very tall, with the high windows behind it anyway). My coworkers were still seated on their chairs as before. I froze and stared around me, feeling completely off-kilter and strange. I had the distinct impression as I was turning my head that I was going to see a man actually, like one of the dads, even though none had come in and would have had to walk right behind me from the door to get to the rug. My mind was spinning. It was like my brain was saying, as I was turning my head, 'I guess it must be this-coworker or that-coworker, but it looks like a guy'.
I looked back toward the sink and stared straight ahead while finishing the dishes. I was thinking 'omg what was THAT??' and trying to puzzle it out in my head. The memory of this form standing almost straight, bent a little bit forward, long arms - one ahead of the form and one behind, as if it was someone in the middle of a long striding walk, stuck in my brain like it had been burned there. I could not explain it, it made me feel very odd and woozy, and I did not tell anyone about it. It was only during this moment that my brain finally made a connection - was I seeing what this little girl had been talking about 2 and 4 weeks earlier? What was going on? I just felt WEIRD.
On Tuesday, the very next day, the form was not on my mind much. In the late afternoon I was changing a child's diaper and then washing my hands. Normal routine, every day stuff, not thinking of anything in particular. A 6 year old boy was sitting at a long table just outside the bathroom door, facing me. He was colouring with felt markers and wax crayons. All of the other children were at least 10 feet away, all younger, and playing on the carpet area. Just as I walked out of the bathroom, the boy quite loudly said 'HEY!'... like 'HEEYYYY' as a sister would say to a brother who was annoying her to death lol. But no one was around him. He was staring down at his paper and I said 'what's up?'. He looked up at me for a second but then was all spacey and weird. He said 'My name' and sounded perplexed or slightly annoyed.
I had no idea what he was talking about so I walked over to him and looked down. He had written his name on the paper earlier with white wax crayon, but had then been making little drawings in various felt marker colours. I saw right away that there was a blue marker line sketched diagonally right through the middle of his name. In his hand was the blue marker, which he had also used to draw other things on the paper earlier. I didnt think much of it, I just assumed he slipped with the marker and was annoyed at himself for going through his own name with a line about an inch or so long. I figured since he was frustrated, I would just say 'it's okay, you can write your name over here instead'. He again said 'my NAME' and was still acting strangely, slow worded, almost slurry, sounding bewildered, and had an odd look on his face. I have known this boy for over a year and a half and was not sure what to make of his actions. I decided to try a different tactic, pointing out that it was he who made the booboo, so he could fix it by writing his name in a different spot. So I said, light-heartedly, 'well, who did it?' (thinking he would say 'me' and then I could get on with showing him how to fix the error)... but instead he floored me by saying 'that MAN' , emphasizing 'man'. I froze. WTF?? But I remained calm and tried hard to sound normal and said 'what man?'. He was super spacey still and delayed answering me for several seconds,,,then said 'THAT man' but he was not pointing anywhere, he was just staring at his paper. He then said, after a couple more seconds, 'the one at the playground'. I had a weird feeling like he was making that last part up, just to fill in the space and give me some sort of answer. I do not know why I felt so strongly about that, I just did. Gut feeling? He seemed to be searching for more of an answer than 'that MAN' or 'THAT man', when I did not respond fast enough, and he came up with 'the one at the playground'. But then he lost interest and started to write his name in an open space I had indicated.
I looked up to see my coworker folding hand towels at another table. She was STARING at the boy, and was holding a cloth in mid-air, like she forgot she had it in hand. She met my eyes and I just shrugged and walked away to do other jobs. But my mind was racing... WHAT man? What kind of a weird answer was that? Why so stunned about making a booboo on the page? This boy loves to colour and draw and does it every day, and so rarely gets upset about making a mistake, I can't even think of a single time he was ever frustrated about it. My coworker was clearly shaken, perhaps thinking of previous events with the little girl, but we have not had much chance to talk about it. I told her later about seeing the weird grey form on the carpeted area, but that was all we have had time to chat about.
My mind was racing because I was thinking of all the things happening - the little girl saying 'I dont like that man in the mirror' and then 'there is a stranger in here', and then the shadowed form I saw, and now a boy who is not in that little girl's group, saying 'that man' when indicating what happened to his paper, and acting all strange about it. What is up with that?
Has something unexplained popped in for a visit to the daycare? Or has nothing really happened and we are just squishing all of the ideas together in our minds in order to try to make sense of them, like humans so often try to do? If it weren't for a few other things that have happened there in the past, I would be inclined to think it was 'nothing' and just strange co-incidences, but I cannot help feeling that something strange has happened, and whatever it is, I hope it moves on soon!
It started with a coworker coming to me out of breath, to tell me a story of how she was just down in the sleeping room, lying next to a three year old girl, when the girl suddenly said 'I don't like that man in the mirror'. My coworker looked toward the small wall mirror, to see if there was perhaps a doll or wall picture in her view that was bothering her. But there was nothing. All that she could see, even putting her face right next to the little girl's head, was the blank light-blue wall. Meanwhile, the little girl had covered her head with her blanket. We have known this girl for almost 3 years now and she has always slept in that very same spot, and she has never made such comments before, nor has she ever seemed afraid in there.She also does not like sleeping with the blanket even close to her face, let alone covering her head. It was weird, but my coworker chalked it up to imagination and carried on rubbing her back to help her fall asleep. A few minutes later, the little girl peeked out from under her blanket and yelled quite loudly "GO AWAY" and then covered herself AND my coworker up with her blanket, making sure their faces were both totally tucked away. My coworker could barely manage to keep herself laying there 'normally' until the girl fell asleep, which is when she raced up to the room I was working in, to share the story. She didn't know what to make of it, just wanted to tell someone about it. I was not with any children at the time, just doing paperwork, so we could speak freely.
A couple of weeks later, so about 2 weeks ago, the same little girl and my coworker were again laying down getting ready to nap. My coworker had made a habit of laying between the girl and the mirror so she could not see in it anymore and freak herself out. As my coworker was laying there, she saw a shadow move behind her, reflected in the mirror, so she turned to look and see if perhaps one of the other children had tried to sneak off their sleeping mat or what, when at the exact moment, the little girl stated 'There is a stranger in here'. She then flipped the blanket up over her head again and did not move. My coworker was stunned, as she had seen the shadow, none of the children were off their mats, no other staff members were wandering around as it was their lunch break time, and I was upstairs with the older kids that no longer nap. She had to wait until after work to tell me this story, and again we did not know what to make of it.
Had the little girl been watching strange shows or movies? Had she been dreaming of something and it came back to her as she was falling asleep? What about the shadow my coworker saw? The window in that room looks out under a deck in the private yard of the building owner, and the blinds were closed tightly anyway. We have all worked in that place for 10-18 years each and do not see shadows randomly playing on the walls in that room EVER. So it was bizarre, but what can you do?
I took over a couple of days putting the little girl down for her nap and I did not see or hear anything. But after all of the kiddos were asleep, I said out loud into the room 'If anything is in here, STOP bothering this little girl.' I felt silly saying it, but also felt like I had at least tried, in case something WAS hanging around.
But then things got a little weirder and this time it involved me. The other stories I was not witness to, so I can only go by what I was told. But for the past little while, maybe a week or two, I have been annoyed at work by seeing things out of the corner of my eye. Even with the stories surrounding the little girl, and what I said in the room afterward, I did not put two and two together when I started seeing 'things'. Just that aggravating moment where you think you see something moving at the very edge of your vision so you turn your head, and find nothing, or find the source such as a curtain blowing in the wind, or whatever. But I would turn my head and not find the source - ever. I started wondering if I was having vision problems or high blood pressure issues (I have been told that very high BP can cause people to see spots in front of their eyes). But nothing seemed amiss, aside from these brief moments of 'grey' at the very very outer corner of my side vision.
Until Monday, this week. I was washing dishes at the sink. The children were all reading books or playing with toys on the main carpet area. It was nearing the end of the day and many had already gone home. There were three staff members in the building, including myself. The other two were watching over the children. So I am washing the dishes, not really thinking of anything, just getting the job done - when I see something more clearly from the corner of my eye. I see a form that I immediately assume is a person, but it appears kind of grey, like a thicker grey you might expect from thick smoke or something similar. It appeared in my vision as a person walking from my right to left, if I was facing the 'form', and leaning forward a bit, moving fairly quickly. I still did not think much of it, but I turned my head in curiousity, just to see who it was. I completely expected to see one of my coworkers moving among the children on the rug, though I was aware that my brain could not figure out which one of them it might be, as I did not recall seeing any color like from clothing, hair, etc. Just as I am realizing this is a bit weird, my head finishes turning - and I am facing a rug with NO ONE standing on it. No staff members, not even the children (though what I saw in my side vision was very tall, with the high windows behind it anyway). My coworkers were still seated on their chairs as before. I froze and stared around me, feeling completely off-kilter and strange. I had the distinct impression as I was turning my head that I was going to see a man actually, like one of the dads, even though none had come in and would have had to walk right behind me from the door to get to the rug. My mind was spinning. It was like my brain was saying, as I was turning my head, 'I guess it must be this-coworker or that-coworker, but it looks like a guy'.
I looked back toward the sink and stared straight ahead while finishing the dishes. I was thinking 'omg what was THAT??' and trying to puzzle it out in my head. The memory of this form standing almost straight, bent a little bit forward, long arms - one ahead of the form and one behind, as if it was someone in the middle of a long striding walk, stuck in my brain like it had been burned there. I could not explain it, it made me feel very odd and woozy, and I did not tell anyone about it. It was only during this moment that my brain finally made a connection - was I seeing what this little girl had been talking about 2 and 4 weeks earlier? What was going on? I just felt WEIRD.
On Tuesday, the very next day, the form was not on my mind much. In the late afternoon I was changing a child's diaper and then washing my hands. Normal routine, every day stuff, not thinking of anything in particular. A 6 year old boy was sitting at a long table just outside the bathroom door, facing me. He was colouring with felt markers and wax crayons. All of the other children were at least 10 feet away, all younger, and playing on the carpet area. Just as I walked out of the bathroom, the boy quite loudly said 'HEY!'... like 'HEEYYYY' as a sister would say to a brother who was annoying her to death lol. But no one was around him. He was staring down at his paper and I said 'what's up?'. He looked up at me for a second but then was all spacey and weird. He said 'My name' and sounded perplexed or slightly annoyed.
I had no idea what he was talking about so I walked over to him and looked down. He had written his name on the paper earlier with white wax crayon, but had then been making little drawings in various felt marker colours. I saw right away that there was a blue marker line sketched diagonally right through the middle of his name. In his hand was the blue marker, which he had also used to draw other things on the paper earlier. I didnt think much of it, I just assumed he slipped with the marker and was annoyed at himself for going through his own name with a line about an inch or so long. I figured since he was frustrated, I would just say 'it's okay, you can write your name over here instead'. He again said 'my NAME' and was still acting strangely, slow worded, almost slurry, sounding bewildered, and had an odd look on his face. I have known this boy for over a year and a half and was not sure what to make of his actions. I decided to try a different tactic, pointing out that it was he who made the booboo, so he could fix it by writing his name in a different spot. So I said, light-heartedly, 'well, who did it?' (thinking he would say 'me' and then I could get on with showing him how to fix the error)... but instead he floored me by saying 'that MAN' , emphasizing 'man'. I froze. WTF?? But I remained calm and tried hard to sound normal and said 'what man?'. He was super spacey still and delayed answering me for several seconds,,,then said 'THAT man' but he was not pointing anywhere, he was just staring at his paper. He then said, after a couple more seconds, 'the one at the playground'. I had a weird feeling like he was making that last part up, just to fill in the space and give me some sort of answer. I do not know why I felt so strongly about that, I just did. Gut feeling? He seemed to be searching for more of an answer than 'that MAN' or 'THAT man', when I did not respond fast enough, and he came up with 'the one at the playground'. But then he lost interest and started to write his name in an open space I had indicated.
I looked up to see my coworker folding hand towels at another table. She was STARING at the boy, and was holding a cloth in mid-air, like she forgot she had it in hand. She met my eyes and I just shrugged and walked away to do other jobs. But my mind was racing... WHAT man? What kind of a weird answer was that? Why so stunned about making a booboo on the page? This boy loves to colour and draw and does it every day, and so rarely gets upset about making a mistake, I can't even think of a single time he was ever frustrated about it. My coworker was clearly shaken, perhaps thinking of previous events with the little girl, but we have not had much chance to talk about it. I told her later about seeing the weird grey form on the carpeted area, but that was all we have had time to chat about.
My mind was racing because I was thinking of all the things happening - the little girl saying 'I dont like that man in the mirror' and then 'there is a stranger in here', and then the shadowed form I saw, and now a boy who is not in that little girl's group, saying 'that man' when indicating what happened to his paper, and acting all strange about it. What is up with that?
Has something unexplained popped in for a visit to the daycare? Or has nothing really happened and we are just squishing all of the ideas together in our minds in order to try to make sense of them, like humans so often try to do? If it weren't for a few other things that have happened there in the past, I would be inclined to think it was 'nothing' and just strange co-incidences, but I cannot help feeling that something strange has happened, and whatever it is, I hope it moves on soon!
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