Kid Dreams

Every night at bedtime, either Chris or I talk to our kids about their day. Sometimes those conversations go off in different directions where we discuss anything from math, to current events, to weather or whatever else might come up. Tonight we made shadow puppets while we talked. Then the conversation drifted off in a different direction. The other day Ivor had a nightmare about all of us getting eaten by a crocodile so I asked them today about their dreams. Mia's answer surprised me. I expected to hear about ponies and butterflies. Mia told me that she had dreamt about going to school naked and that other kids laughed at her. Being naked in public is a classic anxiety dream and I bet just about everyone has had it at some point. I just didn't know that five-year-olds had those as well. I was genuinely surprised. So even in her little five-year-old world there was enough anxiety to cause a dream like that.

Ivor chimed in and said that he had a dream like that too except he at least had his underwear on and that he wasn't really stressed out about it. Apparently, in his dream, it just got him in trouble with the teacher. I am thinking that we'll talk about dreams more often now.