Boogie-Mom

Nothing prepares you for the sleepless nights that are inevitable when you bring home a newborn. And just when they sleep through the night, they get their first ear infection. And there are thousands of other reasons your children keep you up at night, right up until your dying day.

Last night, Josie found yet another reason to keep us up all night. She was afraid. Afraid of the two shadows in the corner of the room that looked like eye balls. Afraid of the "tiger-monster" in her closet.

But after the lamp, the source of the eyeball shadows, had been taken from her room and after a thorough search revealed that the "tiger-monster" was no longer a threat, she searched her psyche for something, anything that scared her. After all, it had been a while since she had gotten so much attention in the middle of the night.

"Rain clouds," she said. "They are going to blow me away."

"Enough," I said in a tone that was less than pleasant.

"No rain clouds?" she asked.

"No rain clouds," I answered. This bizarre middle of the night conversation was starting to make me wonder if I was having a horrible nightmare. In real life, no mother should ever be this annoyed with her child. Its not healthy. For either of us.

After finally falling asleep, she woke up at 7am with rain clouds on her mind. And I was still very annoyed and very unpleasant. The nightmare continued.

At the very least it was interesting to learn about the things a child fears. In my daugther's case, it was, of course, unconventional. It would have been much easier to comfort her at 3am if she was crying about something truly scary. Something that really posed a threat to her well-being. Something more like me.