I remember the first time I realized that Avery had started dreaming. One morning I was standing in the kitchen making breakfast when Avery toddled out from bed, her tiny little 3 year-old body hunched over from an obvious fretful night of sleep.
“What’s up little lady?” I asked.
“Where’s all my bayoons?” Avery asked,looking around thekitchen.
“What balloons, sweetie?” Iasked. She looked very serious and slightly troubled.
“I had wots of dem. Wots and wots. Dey was allover da place. Where dey go?”Avery asked.
Ahh.She had a dream, apparently having taken place at Chuck E. Cheese given theplethora of latex to which she was referring. Luckily, Avery has always been easily distracted so I was able to talk her down from her balloon dream with the promise of Cocoa Pebbles for breakfast. (It works for Jer, too.)
Dreams can be so vivid and real. Which, in the case of flying unicorns, candy-coated rainbows anda room full of balloonsis a really good thing. But applying that realism and vividness to a not-so-fairy tale dream can be a little disappointing and sometimes even disturbing.
Now, obviously, in my 33 years I have had my share of dreams but there are two that stand out very clearly in my mind. I once dreamt that I had stuffed a bunch of chewing gum into my coat pockets. It was so real I could even smell the mingling bouquet of Wrigley. Imagine my disappointment when I woke up the next morning, with an urgent hankering for Juicy Fruit, only to discover that the only thing filling my coat pockets was one lint-covered Mento and a bunch of ATM receipts. A real bummer. (I feel compelled to add that I did eat the Mento. Not one of my better moments.)
The second dream which stands foremost in my mind is one which plagued a very uncomfortable pregnant night’s sleep. In my dream I was at the hospital in labor, actively attempting to push my baby out. Everyone was so encouraging. Jeremy was standing right beside me, holding my hand, whispering positive affirmations in my ear. I was so happy because the joyous moment I had been working towards was finally coming to fruition. The nurse informed me that I would probably deliver my baby with the next push and I remember bearing down with all my might. The doctor reached down, smiling at the sudden appearance of my newlittle bundle.She wrapped her in a receiving blanket and set the tiny package into my arms. Witnessing everyone’s smiling faces around me I looked down to finally see my beautiful baby….kitten.
I had given birth to a kitten. A kitten baby. With a furry head. A furry little kitten baby head.
And not a single person in that delivery room found this fact the least bit strange. I was the only one who thought that things had gone a little awry. And, thankfully, I woke up from that dream with such relief that my big ol’ baby belly was still in tact and not a mewling kitten in sight.
Thank God.No new mother dreams of cuddling up with herbouncing baby kitten. Unless you’re a cat.
Yes, dreams can be extremely vivid.
But the dreams of a child are a horse of a completely different color.
On our way to the dentist this afternoon the kids and I were talking about dreams. Jack piped in to inform me of his most recent nighttime woolgathering.
“Mom, I has a dream wast night,” he said.
“Oh, you did? What was that buddy?”
“I has a hand dat comes out my tummy and grabs a bunch of fings in my room,” he explains.
Pardon?
“Um, a hand was coming out of your stomach?” I ask.
“Yeah. And it was grabbing stuff.” He smiles at me, proud of his bionic appendage.
“I had a dream one time, too,” Avery said. “And it made me kind of sad,” she said.
“Sometimes dreams can be sad, Ave. What was it?” I asked.
“I had a dream that daddy got attacked by those little blue guys on T.V.” she answered.
“Little blue guys on TV? You mean Smurfs?” I said.
“Yeah, those little Smurfs. Except these were medium-sized ones,” she explained.
“Ahh,” I said. “Avery, I’m pretty sure your daddy could hold his own in a throwdown with a Smurf. You have nothing to worry about.”
And then Jack has to add, “Hey…I fink my tummy hand could grab dose medium Smurf guys. I sure wish I had a tummy hand.”
Ah,achild’s dreams.
P.S. I’m fully aware that it’s a little disturbing my children are dreaming of medium-sized blue mushroom dwellers with a vicious streak and a protruding stomach hand with a mind of its own. Too much TV? Perhaps. Bad parenting? It’s a possibility. High on the creep-factor? You betcha.
Happy Dreaming,
Mindy
What does it say about me that your kids’ dreams sound alot like mine sometimes? Should I be scared or amused? Remind me to never accept a Mento from you. 😉
Hopefully it says that we’re all relatively normal?? And, don’t worry. I don’t keep Mentos long enough to be able to share with anyone. =)
Mindy
Jack is sooo definitely a future horror novelist. Between his obsession with Halloween decorations and the tummy-hand dream, it’s obvious where that’s headed.
We have lots of crazy dreams in my house and of course we always share because, well, who doesn’t share crazy?? Sometimes we’ll all have a doozy on the same night. It’s fun. And disturbing. Lol.
♥Spot
Oh, yeah. That dude is destined for sci-fi in some capacity or another. Dreams are just plain weird, eh? Some mornings Jer and I wake up and just give each other the look, like, “Oh, you wouldn’t believe what I just dreamed.” Fun but a little freaky. =)
Mindy
Dreams are crazy! I stayed mad at my husband for weeks for having an affair in my dream… but it seemedso real. And the worst was dreaming of a whole new wardrobe of clothes to wake up and find they didn’t exist…not fair! And I probably would have eaten the mento, too!
That’s the crazy part…how some dreams are so vivid you have to talk yourself out of them, whereas others are so obviously “dreamy” you almost know in the midst of it that it’s not really happening. =)
Mindy
I had bad dreams last night. They were NOT nice. But I can’t remember a darn thing now. Which is the joy of adulthood.
I’m with Jack. A third hand from the tummy would be so cool. And those smurfs are MEAN, you gotta watch out for them.
🙂
Yeah, we’re now on Smurf Patrol around here! =)
Mindy
I love your kids’ dreams. So much fun. Oh, and the kitten dream is actually pretty normal while you’re prego.
My weirdest one was just a few weeks before my wedding. I dreamed that someone had forgotten all the flowers, the cake, and all my friends forgot about the wedding. Then, a hell hole opened up in the middle of the wedding. Can you tell I was freaked over something going wrong?
I remember having those wedding dreams…however, never had a hell hole open up before. Had you been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer before the big day? =)
Mindy
Too cute! It always takes me awhile to get a reality check after waking up from a pretty vivid dream!
Yep…sometimes I just lay there and marvel at how weird my dreams can be (oh, that’s after I check my coat pocket for gum). =)
Mindy
Pregnancy dreams are the worst. As much as I miss pregnancy eating, I do NOT miss pregnancy eating.
And of course I meant that I do NOT miss pregnancy dreaming.
I’m a mess.
Completely understood you the first time (which is kind of scary.) But I totally agree. Pregnancy eating is AWESOME! Pregnancy dreaming is DISTURBING. (I can’t even begin to tell you how many dream affairs I had while I was prego.) Weird (okay, but kind of fun.) =)
Mindy
It’s so great that you’ve got their dreams documented too. If they ever try to forget, you can just point them to your blog!
To be honest, when I started this blog I didn’t even think about the fact I would be recording some big events! This blog both helps my mental state and works as an e-scrapbook. Yay me. =)
Mindy
I’m with Angelia, to have atummy hand would be kinda cool! Everyone could always use another hand.
The attack of the Smurfs..sounds like a scary movie!
My friend says she dreamt about giving birth to an alien looking lizard creature. I think those kind of prego dreams are common. A kitten is better than a lizard!
I think that was Jack’s thinking. He didn’t see one single problem with having a tummy hand. In fact, thoughout the day he continually reminded me how much he wished he had one.
The craziest thing about my ‘kitten baby’ was how eveybody else thought it was so precious. Tht was the scariest part! =)
Mindy