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Q: Do Chinese scare their kids with "boogeyman" stories?
Pure curiosity that only our Chinese readers may be capable of answering: do they also scare their kids sh*tless into obedience with horror stories?
"Eat your baozi or else..."
No, no I've never heard of this before...plus I don't think they talk about the boogeyman here in China. I think they may say 'eat your baozi or else you may not get your soup dumplings.....nothing scary there. Jack and Jill Rhyme frightens kids more than the boogeyman does.....
they often tell their children that if they go out in the sun without an umbrella they will end up looking like me.
GuilinRaf:
I have heard some mothers scold their kids when they eat raw vegetables. They tell their kids that is why foreigners have so much hair...
Eat your baozi or I'll send you to america.
(Is what they said when they noticed me)
Typical 'boogeyman' taunts here are the parents saying things like, "I found you in a trash can", or "If you don't behave, I will throw you out the window while you are sleeping."
We took my 3 year old sons to the zoo once and when they saw the huge tigers, they asked their mother, "how does a cat get that big?" My wife replied, "They feed them little children that disobey their parents."
It was a mean thing to say, but man did they start acting better. :) Now whenever they are acting up, I will get really silent and say, "I think I hear a tiger outside the door. Should I let him in?"
giadrosich:
Hehehe. Now that is funny, in a sneaky parental sorta way!
I can tell you that in a typical Chinese family it is almost unthinkable to tell ghost or horror stories to children (or each other). Ghost and spirits are taken seriously and are taboo. It would be like inviting evil or misfortune upon the child.
From what I hear from my neighbors, a good 'ol fashioned back of the hand to the chops seems to be scarier than any ghost story.
