Got that "I can't believe you're so stupid look"

[nvts]

Again from difficult child 2. I love this kid! He just makes me laugh on a daily basis.

You may recall that he strips naked when he needs to, um, sit down to use the facilities. His preK teacher was getting concerned about him being in the bathroom so long so she knocked, he said "come in" and there he was, stark naked, except his socks, perched on the camode.

The teacher said "J, why are you sitting there with just your socks on?". He looked at her like she was dumber than dirt and said "Um, because my feet are cold!".

Fast forward to last night, about 3 a.m. difficult child 2 comes in, and is poking me in the forehead. "What?". "Mom, I had a nightmare" "What was the nightmare about" "The baby on youtube with the red glowing eyes" "Ok, it was done on the computer, we know this, so come on, honey, and I'll tuck you back in"...

in the dark of night, I get the "you're dumber than dirt" tone "um, that's where I had the nightmare to begin with, WHY would I want to go back there? - I wanted to sleep in here".

I just rolled over and let him in.

and then in the dark of night, the bed starts to shake and all I hear is

"hee, hee, hee, hee"

Thanks for the input, husband!

Beth

 

[Andy]

Well, DUH!

Our kids are so smart no wonder we get those looks!

 

[susiestar]

Such a smart kid. don't you love the logic they use? I would have let him in too. And problem would have been the one laughing!

 

[flutterbee]

 

[Abbey]

Well, he *is* right. I wouldn't want to go back there either!

Abbey

 

[TerryJ2]

OMG, that's hysterical! I LOVE the way these kids think!!!!
I wish I'd known about this yrs ago ... I would have laughed more and gotten angry less.

 

[Hound dog]

 

[Wiped Out]

Actually not bad logic! Too funny!

 

[Marguerite]

You know how we dealt with that logic?

I explained to the kids that nightmares will leak out of your head - all you have to do is roll over and go to bed lying down on your other side, and the nightmare you WERE having will trickle out the ear now facing down.

So if your child says, "I'm scared to go back to bed - what if I have the same bad dream?" explain to him that all he has to do is roll over and lie on his other side. And this works - for ANY nightmare.

OK, he might still have another nightmare, but that's the point - it will be ANOTHER nightmare, it won't be the same one.

There is also sound science behind it - because any dream is a combination of factors, from the brain dealing with the combined input of the day, to the position you're lying in, the background noise, everything.

We used the "trickle out the other ear" story until the kids were old enough to understand the science of exactly what dreams are, including the news that the more stimulating the day, the more processing the brain had to do at night to sift through the day's input and file it. Nightmares are often the result of too much jumbled information in the brain because there is just too much to sort through in one day.

Marg