The other night after the kids went to bed, I was so happy to finally sit down and relax for a bit.

I wanted to catch up on some reading, and I think it was literally the first time that day I had gotten off my feet. Of course as any parent knows, it’s those well-deserved peaceful moments that seem to send off some kind of radar signal to our children- usually causing them to need something.

A few minutes later, I heard some rustling around upstairs and sure enough, my six year old daughter came out of her room looking terrified. She informed me that there was something scary and awful making a noise in her room. She described the horrible noise to me by not snapping, but rubbing her finger and thumb together. Hmm…I thought strange, yes but scary…no.

I should preface my reaction with the fact that it had been a particularly long day. The kind of day when one might contemplate having their evening cocktail around say- lunch. I scrunched my eyebrows at her and asked her to tell me again exactly what she heard. BIG MISTAKE! The tears started flowing and she started professing that it was NOT the birds outside her window, as I had suggested a few nights before. She said it sounded like it was inside the wall or maybe on the other side of her desk, or it could be behind her hot pink curtain… she told me she was sure of it.

So I went up with my purple spray bottle full of “monster be gone” ( a.k.a. lavender infused water) that used to work on the rare occasion that she needed it. I have always explained that there are no such things as monsters, but just in case, we spray some around her bed anyway. I did a thorough investigative check everywhere to satisfy her. Still, she looked at me with some doubt and asked if we should check out her window. We did and nothing. She said that the noise only seems to happen when I am not there. Hmmm… I said again, this time a little more tired and a little more annoyed. I explained how the birds we saw up on our house that day like to build nests this time of year. I assured her there was nothing to be frightened of. I read her another quick bedtime story to distract her mind, and gave her a big reassuring hug. She wasn’t buying the bird possibility, but she seemed ok.

I finally was able to resume my time alone when all of the sudden I heard a strange noise coming from the basement. I ignored it the first time, then the second, and by the third I realized it was not a random noise, but a low gurgling voice. I found myself repeating my own monster mantra. This was getting ridiculous.

Apparently I was not destined to sit down that day. I wanted nothing more than to take a break from ‘monster land’, and now I had to go on scary noise hunt #2. I opened the basement door and found one of those toys that normally talks really loud (the kind that is always bought by someone who is not a parent) to be running on a low battery and making a “scary” voice noise. I took out the batteries and put the dumb toy in the garage just in case it became like a Chucky doll.

I laughed in spite of the irony that night and actually was reminded for a minute of how incredibly spooky nighttime noises are when you are a kid (or a tired adult). I might even be a little more sympathetic the next time the phantom finger rubbing noise comes back.

Sara Arsenault is a full time stay at home mother of two, a community volunteer, and a contributor to the Parenting section of AnnArbor.com She welcomes your thoughts, stories, and comments at searsen@live.com