Shadow Fallout

I might have traumatized my children.
This morning, Lex woke up and peered out the window- futively, tentatively-and asked "Shadows out there?"
No, I told him. No Shadow.
"I cared Shadow," he replied, his voice a mere whisper.
(which means he's scared of Shadow. Not that he cares for Shadow. Just for clarification.)
I reassured him and thought that the incident was over.
But then when I got home from work, Geoff asked me who Shadow is.
"Oh. Just a dog," I replied.
"Well, all the way to daycare Alex kept asking if Shadow went bye-bye."
"Hmm. How very odd," I replied, not really wanting to get into it with Geoff.

But honestly, it seemed innocent at the time.
And, I'll tell you something else. Shadow isn't even a Rottweiler.
He's a Golden Retriever.
Sometimes on this blog I lie. Well not lie. Just stretch the truth a little. I play up certain elements of the story and down play other elements. Just to make it more interesting.
I mean, can I say that I was threatening him with a Golden Retriever?
It just doesn't sound that threatening.
Also to say that my kids were terrified of a Golden Retriever kind of makes them sound like pansies.
So the Golden Retriever became a Rottweiler.
But so far as I'm concerned, all big dogs are Rottweilers.
If it can take off my left arm- it's a Rottweiler.
If it can take off my right arm, for that matter. Either arm. Any limb. It's a Rottweiler.
Anyways. I think they might be traumatized.
Who knew that telling them that they might be attacked by animals if they don't go to sleep could backfire on a person like that.
Something else to add to my list of lessons learned.