Childrens Nightmares
"I don’t want to go to bed Mommy! If I go to sleep the monster will try to get me again!" Groan. Here we go again. What on earth is a parent to do? You can’t continue to climb into bed with little Zachary every night until he unwillingly and finally drifts off to the land of Nod. Nor can you let baby Jessica jump into your bed – dolly, blankie and all – every time she has that dream of the giant Willy Wonka that wants to eat her up. And why not, you may be asking. Shouldn’t we always comfort our children when they have nightmares? Of course! But neither comforting nor bed sharing is going to make the nightmares stop. And that’s what we all really want, right?
I’m going to share a very simple technique with you that is sure to end those big, bad nightmares and send your brave little soldier happily off to dream land for many years to come. But first, let’s take a look at what nightmares really are. All those monsters and giants and other various creepy crawlies that show up in children’s dreams are merely manifestations of insecurity and anxiety over a world they do not know and have little control over. Think about it from a child’s perspective, practically everybody is bigger than they are, there isn’t a whole lot they are able or allowed to do and they are subject to discipline every so often. Children have a sense of helplessness due to the inability to influence events happening around them and the inability to understand the balance of power between themselves and others. Many of us have forgotten that it’s kinda frustrating being a kid.
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So, if you have child that is suffering from nightmares, first of all, know that it is normal and you are not a bad parent. Secondly, know that you and your child, together, can conquer the ghosts and goblins that haunt his or her sleep. Here is what you can do.
It is a simple technique I call PRTC:
Pinpoint, Relay and Record, Title, Change.
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