Bad Dreams
The kids are on this "bad dream" kick lately. I think it started when David had a nightmare and then many nights after that began postponing bedtime because he was afraid of having bad dreams. Now Sofia is doing it, too. As far as I can tell, she's just feeding off of David's fears. Last night I went to check on her after having put her to bed about 10 minutes prior and she was in bed kind of fake crying. I asked her what was wrong and she said, "I'm having a bad dream" and I said, "But you haven't even fallen asleep yet" to which she paused, then replied, "Uh...but I am asleep." Hmm.
So just about every night when we try to get him settled down, David says, "But I'm afraid I'll have a bad dream." So we've been telling him all kinds of things to try and ease his fears, some which seem to work and others not so much. I told him that sometimes you can even wake yourself up if you don't like your dream. I've had success with this myself, so why not him?
Well, last night I had a bad dream.
And I could not wake up.
It was the weirdest dream and though it doesn't bother me a bit now (probably because I've forgotten most of it) I was petrified while having it. It had something to do with a virus that fed off of humans and consumed them entirely. It had wiped out most of the population and I was one of the few people left and no matter how you tried to destroy it, it would come back in a larger, more resilient form. It went from a bug, to a snake and eventually turned into a man, who chased me up a tree wearing a winter parka and snow goggles as I screamed and climbed higher trying to escape him. I knew if he so much as touched me I was dead. It was horrifying and I thought, "this is just a dream...wake up!" And I couldn't. Then just as the virus man reached for me, Ernesto shook me awake.
"Hey, you were having a bad dream." he mumbled sleepily.
"I know. I know." Now I'll have to revise my earlier statement to David. Still wondering how to do this and still sound like I know what I'm talking about.
There was one really good part in the dream, though. I wasn't pregnant and could move like a ninja. It was sweet.
So just about every night when we try to get him settled down, David says, "But I'm afraid I'll have a bad dream." So we've been telling him all kinds of things to try and ease his fears, some which seem to work and others not so much. I told him that sometimes you can even wake yourself up if you don't like your dream. I've had success with this myself, so why not him?
Well, last night I had a bad dream.
And I could not wake up.
It was the weirdest dream and though it doesn't bother me a bit now (probably because I've forgotten most of it) I was petrified while having it. It had something to do with a virus that fed off of humans and consumed them entirely. It had wiped out most of the population and I was one of the few people left and no matter how you tried to destroy it, it would come back in a larger, more resilient form. It went from a bug, to a snake and eventually turned into a man, who chased me up a tree wearing a winter parka and snow goggles as I screamed and climbed higher trying to escape him. I knew if he so much as touched me I was dead. It was horrifying and I thought, "this is just a dream...wake up!" And I couldn't. Then just as the virus man reached for me, Ernesto shook me awake.
"Hey, you were having a bad dream." he mumbled sleepily.
"I know. I know." Now I'll have to revise my earlier statement to David. Still wondering how to do this and still sound like I know what I'm talking about.
There was one really good part in the dream, though. I wasn't pregnant and could move like a ninja. It was sweet.
posted by Kristen @ 3:06 PM
6 Comments:
At 12:27 PM,
Anonymous said…
I used to have the craziest dreams when I was pregnant--terrible nightmares that seemed so real. One in particular, when I was pregnant with Ana, was that I had gathered the baby up with the sheets and blankets from crib and put her in the washer/dryer. (Now I never had a combination washer/dryer, but in this dream I did.) In the dream, I didn't realize it till after it had gone through the whole wash dry cycle, and I was running down the basement stairs screaming when I woke up!
At 12:38 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hey, I STILL remember a major nightmare I had when I was Sophia's age. Real life setup: my grandmother had bought me a stuffed bear for Christmas. According to my mother, it was beautiful. She set it on the foot of my bed. I then spent the night having a major nightmare about it coming to life, standing on two legs, flinging me over its shoulder, and taking me down into our cellar. Yes, I remember it in detail, to this day. I don't remember what became of that experience, but my mother does. I went to her the next morning, and demanded she take the bear away and that I never wanted to see it again. She wasn't sure why (I didn't exactly know how to communicate my reason) and tried to prop it up farther away from me, put it in the corner, etc. But I stood my ground, and she took it away. It turns out, she gave it to my cousin, who was about a year younger than me, and he LOVED it for years and years. All I remember is that thing was out of my room forever!
At 10:52 PM,
Flea said…
I read once bed time 'tricks' to help kids go to bed is the old fashioned idea of putting stickers on a chart for them, night lights and a new bed time teddy. You can say when you are having a bad dream give teddy a squeeze or hold him tight etc.
I love the "move like a ninja" part :)
At 8:11 PM,
Anonymous said…
It seems like nightmares you have as a kid stay with your forever. I'm still haunted by a few.
For me what helped to get out of a bad dream was to turn on TV for a few minutes and it helped me forget it. When my parents sent me back to bed I just thought of it all night long. *shudder*
PS. Ninja's rock.
At 8:45 PM,
Anonymous said…
I used to have a lot of bad dreams as a kid - they've mostly abated now. I do the TV trick like Jenny, too.
At 8:50 AM,
Kristen said…
Abue, are you sure that didn't really happen?? :>
Jody- I remember a butterfly mobile that was over my crib as a young child, and it's kind of like a dream so I'm not sure it was real or not, but I imagined that the butterflies had come to life over my head. It was very creepy and I still remember it so vividly.
Hann-The kids have lots of stuffed buddies to cuddle with and sometimes that works, but not always. We actually left on a small, low light lamp and that seems to be helping them for the time being.
Jenny- Oh, absolutely. I remember some really awful ones that I actually had more than once as a child. Ugh.
Melissa- Normally if I had a bad dream I would just get up and eat some chocolate...*sigh*
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