Growing Up Me

Still in the Halloween spirit, I have looked up Goblins.  I think I may have had one of these creatures around growing up. Since they attach themselves to families sometimes then maybe it has followed me.  They also like pretty children which I definitely have.  Below are some of the traits of Goblins and why I believe I have one attached to me.

•  Goblins travel in bands so I think I have a subset of Goblin known as the Hobgoblin. Signs to look for if you suspect goblins are around. Cats, dogs and other small domesticated animals will go missing. Nightmares, especially of being chased. We always had nightmares growing up.  We had numerous pets disappear from our yards. So did a lot of our neighbors.

• Goblins are pranksters, and are known for rearranging items in the house, tangling horses, banging pots and pans, removing the clothes from sleeping humans, knocking on doors and walls and even digging up the graves to scatter the bones around. They like tripping people and other mean spirited pranks.  My step-dad always seemed very clumsy.  He would trip for no apparent reason.  We would tease him saying that if there was a hair on the floor or a speck of dirt he could trip over it.  Maybe it was a goblin doing it and not him having two left feet.  One house we lived in, there was a mysterious knocking noise in the bathroom.  Our cat would stare at the spot and would not let us in the bathroom alone.  He would even go so far as to growl at the spot.  We did not live here long.  Many times children and pets are blamed for this creature’s pranks and practical jokes.  Maybe it is not my oldest daughter who always leaves the button for the shower up so that everyone gets sprayed with cold water when they don’t notice it before turning on the faucet. One of the pictures I saw of a hobgoblin, had him wearing a pillowcase cape with crayons in hand.  Maybe my two year old is copying him and only putting her artwork on the walls because of him.  Dad would always look at us like we were guilty of tripping him when we would be on the other side of the room.

• They pester humans in a number of ways, such as hiding small objects, tipping over pails of milk and altering signposts. Tonight, I found my 2 yr old desperately trying to clean up not one but two glasses of kool-aid on the floor.  Since I did not see her dump them in the floor maybe it was the goblin.

I think I may have a hobgoblin and gremlins since goblins are more primitive and not known to disturb electronics.  Unfortunately, the gremlins must have multiplied and one is now on my father-in-law’s Freightliner.  It has broken down about four times in the past month.  I mentioned something to him about the possibility of him having a gremlin and of course being male said “No, I don’t have a Gremlin I have a Charger.” I thought I was car crazy, jeez.

Sources:

• Arthur Spiderwick’s Feild Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
• www.got-goblins.com
• faerie.monstrous.com