HERE + YONDER

I probably would have focused on helping her not be scared of the dark. But that wasn’t quite what she asked for.

She wanted help seeing it differently.

And that little prayer has been stuck in my head ever since.

So I’ve been pulling together our next little stack of picture books around nighttime—the moon and stars, nocturnal animals, and all the things happening outside after the sun goes down.

Not because I think a stack of children’s books is going to suddenly make her unafraid of the dark. But maybe the next time she’s lying in bed, she’ll have a few more beautiful things to think about, too.

Maybe she’ll hear an owl and wonder where it’s going. Or look for the moon through her window. Or remember there’s a whole nighttime world carrying on in the darkness while we’re tucked into bed.

I think that’s what I love most about what she asked for.

Not just take away the scary thing.

Help her find the beautiful part, too.