Boo Hoo

Daughter went to her first sleep-over on Saturday. She was very nervous, having only ever slept away from home at her grandparents' or her uncle's house. This was the first friend sleep-over. She waffled for two days -- "yes, I'm going" -- "no, I'm staying home."

She finally decided that she was a big, brave girl and would go stay at her friend's house. Unfortunately, no one there got my memo saying don't tell daughter that your house is haunted. Yup, that's right. Daughter went to spend the night at her friend's two-hundred-year-old farm house. All was well until daughter's friend told her that the house was haunted. When daughter asked her friend's mom if that was true, the mom said yes and went on to tell her about a woman who had been dragged from the house and murdered on the lawn. Nice!

So, we got the phone call at 8:30 p.m. She needed to come home. What were these people thinking????? Daughter was crying. Friend was crying because daughter insisted on going home. The whole thing turned out to be one fine mess.

And what, exactly, was that mother thinking? Even if you believe in ghosts (I'm a skeptic), would you ever, in your right mind, tell an eight-year-old girl that someone was murdered on your lawn and now roams the house?

Daughter is now concerned that our house might be haunted. You see, this entire area was once one big farm. So, how could we know that there aren't ghosts all around? After much talking and stretching the truth just a bit, I finally convinced her that our house is not haunted. But friend's mom will be lucky if I don't haunt her for the rest of her life!