Will woke me up at 3:00 am Wednesday morning. He'd had a bad dream and was afraid. I calmed him down and got him back in bed. The next morning, while driving to the sonogram with Tori, I asked him what it was about. He asked if he could please not tell me.
I figured he didn't want to talk in front of Tori and I let it go. I even forgot about it.
Then he woke me again this morning. Another nightmare. I got him back to sleep. When Steve and I were putting him to bed, I asked what his nightmare was about and again he asked if he could please not tell me. We tried to let him know how sharing your fears with others can make them less scary. He didn't budge. Finally, Steve volunteered to leave the room and I got Will to talk.
First, he made me try to guess what his fear was. I covered all the normal things: school, teachers, bullies, animals, heights, falling, monsters, etc. Everything I could think of, to no avail.
He eventually come clean. He whispers really quietly, "A red and a green color are at war with me."
"Crayons?" I asked, stupefied.
"Yeah, they are at war with me."
He then proceeds to tell me how they attach him, chase him, and generally bully him. Two crayons. I'm kind of proud at how quickly I bounced back with a solution though.
"Crayons melt," I informed him. "You can fight them out in the sun and they'll melt. Blow them with a hair dryer. Shoot them with a flame thrower. Tie them to a light bulb and turn it on."
My mind was churning trying to find the right thing to say. But then I notice the emerging smile and relaxing facial muscles.
Oh yeah, them crayons are in for it now!
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After our talk, Will did not wake me up that night. The next morning he informed me that he only had half a nightmare. He said he did everything we talked about and finally melted the crayons. You go!
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