Back in June I took our son camping for the first time. It was a very short trip; We pitched a tent on the front lawn. (This is a Father/Son activity. Mommy’s not keen on sleeping on the ground.)

When the two of us (with some help from the neighbor kids) set up the tent, he was very excited to sleep in the tent. But later, after nightfall, sleeping out in the tent took on a different aspect.

“Daddy I scared.”

I asked what he was scared of.

“Monsters! Scary monsters outside.”

He’s a big fan of Elmo so I explained that monsters don’t have to be scary and that there are many friendly monsters like Elmo and Cookie Monster.

He considered this and looked at me very thoughtfully for a moment.

Then he announced “Elephants! Scary elephants outside.”