My Dad and his Trapdoor 45-70

[Shooter6br]

When I was a kid (4yrs old or so ) I had a dream a Gorilla was going to get me. My Father came to my room and placed his old 45-70 Trapdoor on my bed(unloaded of course) He said "any Gorilla who saw that gun would run away scarred" I beleived him and went to sleep. Just a memory of my long passed Dad. .....Rick

[NVcurmudgeon]

Your dad was a lot smarter than I am. Each of my two kids needed for me to shut myself in their room, bang things around and jump up and down for about five minutes. I would come out with a brown paper grocery bag full of "monster parts" and burn it in the fireplace. One treatment for each kid, no more monsters.

[grumpy one]

The trick with the firearm has been around for a while. I recall reading a sci fi novel from the fifties I think, where a boy about three years old was having genuine nightmares about monsters. His father took him to the range and showed him what a 1911 can do, then had him start sleeping with the same pistol (unloaded, but the kid was small and didn't know loaded from unloaded) under his pillow. Father said, "if something scares you really badly, worse than you can stand, just reach under your pillow and shoot it. You saw at the range today what will happen to the monster".

I don't think the shooting solution is as good as finding out what was causing the nightmares, but it probably works.

[Uncle R.]

I guess I got off easy...
We had a Black Lab that tipped the scales at very near 100 lbs. in his prime. Buddy was strong as a bull and of a rather, um - forceful personality.
:roll:
When the twins were born our oldest boy was 3-1/2 and we moved him from the room right across the hall from ours to make way for his baby brothers. His new room was much further away from mom and dad - and that first night alone he lay wide-eyed in his new bed for over two hours. I talked to him a couple of times. He insisted he wasn't afraid - but he wasn't sleeping either.
Seized by inspiration I called Buddy into his new room. "Son, do you think your big dog Buddy is afraid of anything?" He gave it some thought and admitted that no - he never seen Buddy afraid. "That's right" I replied - "and here's why." I pulled ol' Bud's mouth open and showed his VERY impressive set of teeth.
"Ol' Bud's not afraid 'cause he knows that if any monsters or bad guys were to come around he could just chew 'em into little pieces, swallow the juices and spit out the chunks. I know you're not afraid either, son - 'cause you told me so - but I'm thinking you might be kinda lonely in here. Let's have Buddy stay with you."
I then left the room after saying...
"Bud! Lay Down."
"Good Boy! Now - You Stay - It's time for sleeping." (These were all familiar commands.)
Ten minutes later I went to check - my boy was sleeping peacefully - his big dog curled up next to his bed.
:)

[StrawHat]

Ten minutes later I went to check - my boy was sleeping peacefully - his big dog curled up next to his bed.
:)

It still works for me.

[longhorn]

I must be more of a 'fraidy cat--I keep both a dog and a .45 close.....

[crossfireoops]

Nice Thread, Kinda' like a "Sanity Break",

Big dog dittos,

GTC

[The Double D]

My kid was around 3 years old --he's gonna be 40 next week--was having nightmares about a monkey under his bed. It went on for several nights and nobody was getting any sleep.

Finally one night I went in his room and told him in my best "Daddy is mad" voice that he was in a lot trouble for bringing the monkey house, and in the morning we were going to have have a long discussion out in the wood shed if he didn't put the monkey out right now and not let it in the house again.

We walked to the back door and he said, "get out monkey!" I guess the monkey left because we all slept happily ever after.

Gee, I wonder if I should tell his kid this story! Hee, hee, hee. I'm the grandfather, I have the right!

[Nueces]

I like these stories. My own version, for my daughters, was to tell 'em that they were in charge of their rooms and the monsters HAD to leave if they said so. So, they'd say so and Dad would 'escort' the woolybuggers downstairs and out the door, accompanied by hollerin' and exhortations, backing up the girls' orders. The kids loved the theater (so did a few neighbors) and went back to bed smiling. One of my favorite memories of them.

Mark

[mroliver77]

I had five older "half" sisters that were scarier than any monster. My mom and dad were the last people on earth you wanted to awaken with imagined monsters under the bed. Besides I had my Daisy handy and the silver coated BBs would stop any monster.
J

[Wayne Smith]

Ages 3-4 is when the imagination develops. Nightmares are only one manifestation of this. Richard Scarry's Where The Wild Things Are is a children's book about a boy and monsters. Worked for both of my boys.

[357 hunter]

Grandad gave Dad a trapdoor 45-70...fell in love with that round right away now I got three of the things, two rifles one pistol. Dad cant figure out why, but he has three rifles in 45-70 so he cant really talk...LOL

[xtimberman]

Gorilla guns, and monkeys under the bed...serious stuff!

We had an "Elephant Gun". My grandma's youngest brother had brought back a M1871 Mauser from Europe some time before WWI and it hung in the hallway of the old farmhouse. Because of the long big-bore 11mm cartridge with the paper patch, it was dubbed "The Elephant Gun", even though it was designed to shoot humans. It was fired infrequently - mostly due to scarcity of ammo - but was considered by all family members to be Big Medicine.

I can remember hearing "critter noises" at night during the mild-weather months when the grandchildren slept on cots on the screened-in porch. We'd all wake up and be afraid - then someone would mention "The Elephant Gun" - all would be well, and we'd drift back to dreamland.

My oldest cousin has possession of it and it hangs in his hallway now. Recently, when I was visiting his family, it greatly pleased me to hear one of his children referring to "The Elephant Gun".

xtm