Sarah - Dream Blog - Entry 1

My daughter Sarah has had three nightmares this week. She dreams just like me it. Very vivid, and very weird. I'll try to make this a recurring feature, since she tends to forget her dreams very quickly. I'll include a little analysis in this one just to improve my parenting skills. Hopefully it won't be used by either DHS or by her analyst when she grows up.
Last night dream: our dog Noodles (how can you be scared of a dog with a name like noodles, especially when she looks like this)

Okay, so in her dream (this is in her words) Noodles went outside and then fell down and died. Then she "turned into bones" (her word for an animated skeleton). She then came inside and turned into an alligator and started chasing Sarah and Madison (our other dog, picture here)

Now I tried to explain to Sarah, that if you wanted to feed an Alligator, then Madison was probably the perfect choice. I mean look at her. She might as well be wearing a little doggie shirt that says "Alligator Bait". That didn't really seem to help her however.

Now we come to the recurring theme in her dreams. She ran to her big strong daddy for protection. I picked her up (ah! Safety!; man what an ego boost for me!! Don't worry, it's always fleeting), here it comes: then I put her down (within alligator range) and (it gets foggy here) I either tried to chase the alligator away or help Madison. One interpretation makes me look like the Hero Daddy I strive to be; the other makes me look like, well...a bit of an ass. Guess which one I choose. No need to analyze this part of the dream any further, obviously I need to change my daughter's perception of her father....perhaps a bit more time in front of the TV will do it. Yes, I think that's just what the doctor ordered.
So the rest of the dream devolves into half remembered scraps and what I think is some poetic license on the dreamers part intended to further the listeners reaction. Some involves Noodles then turning into a good alligator and maybe fighting crime with her partner "Gator Bait". Who knows.
So what on earth could have triggered these nightmares?? We have three options as parents.

1. Locate the trigger and attempt to prevent or lessen the impact of these nightmares.
2. Purchase a larger bed so that I don't end up on the floor (and Mommy on the couch) from Missus Flaily McCrazy Sleeper.
3. Find a locking doorknob for the bedroom door, and invest in some soundproofing.

A trigger, eh? Well, we did watch the movie Monster House this weekend. It was a tad scary. And we did watch it on a big screen with all the lights out. But still, it was a cartoon, and it was funny in parts. So I'm not too sure about that one. Let's put a pin in that one for now. Pip.
Let's see, what else did we do this weekend. Ah, she watched me play a little bit of the game Oblivion. Still, it's a little computer game..not too much scary about that. A couple of screen shots here, nothing I can see that would scare a 6 year old in the middle of the night.

Ugh, I'm a horrible person. I should have explained to her that the zombie was nothing to be afraid of! Not since I'm a level 12 Paladin with the native ability to turn undead with a +6. (I'm sure I got my geek all wrong in that part of the post, but the point is...it's there.) Okay, so new rules in the house. No more games for Sarah. Well, except for Halo 2. 'Cause everyone knows there's nothing wrong with pumping a few hundred rounds into a critter as long as it looks like it came from the muppet show. More later!