The Drain Monster

Last night we were giving my children baths, and everything appeared to be normal, and seemingly ... innocent!

The last person in the tub was Brandon, (3 years old). He was chatting with his older brother while I got the older dried off. I was talking to mom, so I wasn't listening to their conversation. I flipped the drain and let it start emptying while innocently drying Jacob off.

Suddenly, about a minute later, Brandon shrieks and starts throwing the toys out of the tub as fast as his little hands can carry them. He's crying hysterically, much like you would if attacked by a snake.

I catch the washcloth as it comes flying out and toss it back in, I don't want to clean water off the floor. This makes Brandon scream louder, and louder.

Then it sunk it .....

The sweet 5 year old shared some version of some evil drain monster. Grabbing a towel, I swipe Brandon out as fast as I can and put him, soaking wet, on my lap. We sat there, letting him cry, for several minutes.

As his sobs subsided, I explained what I thought "could have" happened to my mom. Jacob had run away to get dressed. At my (very sweet, I'm sure) request, Jacob came back and apologized to his brother.

Taking a car, grandma went to put it in the tub, to show him it was safe, which set him off into fresh hysterics, certain the car was about to be sucked down. It appears Jacob was telling him that if anything, or anybody, was in the tub when it emptied, they would be sucked down into whatever world is under there. (I assume something like flushed away).

In hindsight, it was really funny. We didn't press our luck again today, but tomorrow we'll try another bath and see if our calm explanations helped at all, or if we have to convince him nobody can go down a drain because they were in the tub when the water went out.

Ah ... the age of tales. Drain monsters .... and sweet brothers who love to entertain with scary stories.