Recently we found Witch's eggs in the front yard by the Pine tree.
Its a fungus that eventually sprouts and becomes smelly to attract flies to help spread its spores. I convinced my 2 daughters (3 and 4 yo) that they are real witch's eggs. That a witch laid them in hiding and would come back for them when they were ready. We kept checking on them before or after coming home from school until they all eventually disappeared. I told them not to touch them since the witch may come back looking for them and that if you harm a witch's egg, they'll come after you.. They were very careful around them. Well fast forward a couple of weeks after they disappeared. I had the girls kicking mushrooms in the front yard and my eldest daughter saw one and kicked it, thinking it was a mushroom and not a witch's egg. I asked her if it was a witch s egg, she said no (a lie). I said, "Okay, but if it was the witch will come after you." She again said it wasn't a witch's egg. So we went for a walk down our familiar street. She then started holding my hand and said she was scared. I asked her why and she just shook her head. I asked her what she was afraid of. She said the witch. I asked her again if it really was a witch's egg and she said it was. I told her that she should always come and tell me the truth so I could help and protect her. So I told her I knew how to protect her and we should go home so I could perform a witch protection ritual on her. So the three of us went to our back porch. My youngest sat and watched us. I had my eldest stand with her eyes close. I got some salt and made a circle around her (something I saw on hocus pocus and I knew she'd recognize) and made her make the sign of the cross a few times and turn around (something from Pirates of the Caribbean and Muppet treasure island, again something she'd remember seeing). After that I told her to open her eyes and she was now fine and the witch would leave her alone and not know she broke the egg. She asked me not to tell mommy so I said okay. The whole thing was cute. I later did tell my wife and while she thought it was cute, she is the more superstitious of the two of us and asked me to be careful about that kind of thing.
