Things that Go Bump in the Night

The bogey man has moved into Brennan’s room, or at least, that is what Brennan thinks. He has spent many a night over the last few weeks with nightmares or tales of haunted things that go bump in the night and live in his closet. Chris and I have tried, oh we have tried, to patiently deal with his fears. But at two am in the middle of the night, even the most patient and loving of parents may find this challenging.

The first time he awoke with nightmares, I was not the most patient and loving of parents. I had been going through some things at work and I was irritable and grumpy. Chris quickly ushered me back to bed and ended up having an impromptu sleep over in Brennan’s car bed.

It was a quick fix solution by a wonderful dad, but not a solution that could last.

A few nights later, we were putting the boys to bed when Brennan started to get worked up over the chance his nightmare could come back. Chris tried to talk Brennan out of it. I tried magic mommy dust. But, Brennan was having none of it.

Finally, Aidan walked into Brennan’s room and asked if he could talk to Brennan. Aidan asked Brennan to describe his dream. Brennan did. Brennan described a dream of someone, something scary, that looked surprisingly just like his friend Phillip from school, chasing him and Aidan and catching them and hurting them.

Aidan listened thoughtfully and then he said, “Brennan, that could never happen. Think about Phillip. I am so much bigger than Phillip. If anything like Phillip ever chased us or tried to hurt us, I could get them and hurt them first. I would never let them do that. I, well, I would just grab them and throw them out the window!”

Brennan smiled. Aidan smiled back and said, “Okay?” Brennan nodded. Chris looked at Brennan and said, “Are you okay?”

“Yes Daddy, I can sleep now.”

Aidan, our seven year old nightmare whisperer.