Ruby Felt a Dream

Before dinner we were chatting and suddenly Ruby got really sad and said “Mama, I felt a dream that I couldn’t find you. I had to go out to look for you, but you weren’t there.” C and I were both quick to reassure her that it wasn’t real. But she said “Yes it was! I felt it!” I just about cried. Poor little sweetie.

I read recently about how kids have trouble distinguishing reality from fantasy… thus when the shark attacks in Finding Nemo, it’s the child who, on some level, is being attacked. If she thought it, it was real and while I usually want to tell my kids that it’s not, I find they recover more quickly if I say something like, “OH, that must have been so scary.”

But oh gosh, I would want to cry and hug their smooshy little faces and tell them it’ll never happen!