Toddler 1 woke up Monday morning (at the foot of our bed), crying and very visibly upset about something. So, the Spouse leaned up to console her and see what was going on, to which this was the reply (between sobs):
“I had a bad dream. I spilled my vegetables at Target.”
Well, who wouldn’t be upset about such an embarrassing incident? And, at Target, our favorite store, no less?
Two thoughts about this:
1. How wonderful that Toddler 1’s sub-conscience is not stirring up dark and scary images of monsters, bad guys and other such frightening characters and scenarios. I love the innocence. If only our minds could stay so uncorrupted forever.
2. How concerning that spilt vegetables are so upsetting to our three-year old. One might think that the poor child is strictly or cruelly punished for mishaps of this nature. Well, it’s just not so. She has, however, always had a peculiar sensitivity to anything that hints of being messy or accidental.
It seems as if all signs point toward Toddler 1 becoming a complete control freak. And, that apple doesn’t fall far from the tree (the feminine side of that tree, at least). If spilling her vegetables sends her into a tailspin of despair, one wonders what any sort of more serious incident might do to her fragile spirit. Oh, the drama that awaits us.
Fortunately, once Toddler 1 fully awakened and realized it was all just a nightmare in the frozen food aisle at Target, she settled down and turned her thoughts toward how much fun she was going to have at preschool that day. And, all was well.
But, as parents, we’re left in a quandary… because normally, when your child has nightmares, you wisely determine the source of it, turn a nightlight on, and curb their exposure to violent TV shows, scary movies, or potentially frightening triggers like stories about the dark, snakes under the bed, monsters in the closet, bullies, etc. But, what does one do when the culprit is vegetables? Frozen vegetables? Since I can make NO promises to avoid our beloved Target, I guess we’ll take a break from the broccoli and carrots this week and see if that does the trick…
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