A New Kind of Nightmare
Sunday, July 19, 2009 at 12:57PM I have always had vivid dreams that stick with me long after I wake up. Not only do I remember them, I feel them - sometimes for days afterward.
This can be a good thing. Sometimes I have fantastic dreams that keep a smile on my face for a while - a tropical vacation, a conversation and hugs with a loved one who has died, a starring role in a movie. Occasionally I dream that I am a billionaire, with a private jet and homes all over the world (fun, but notably not as good as the dreams where I get to visit with lost loved ones).
Of course, I also have bad dreams. A lot of them. I don't know why, but I seem to have a lot more nightmares than the average person.
My nightmares almost always involve terrible things happening to people I care about. When I was a kid, I frequently dreamed about my parents dying. Right after I got married, I had a series of dreams about my husband getting sick/attacked by bad guys/suffering through other miscellaneous crap.
And now that I am a mom, guess what my nightmares are about? Sigh.
Nightmares are one thing, but nightmares about your kid are an entirely different animal. When I wake up from one of these I immediately turn on the video baby monitor to check on Carly. She is always fine, but I am not fine. I am freaking out.
I remind myself that it was just a dream; that I am extremely fortunate to have bad things happening in my nightmares instead of in real life. I breathe deeply and count to 100. I try to fill my head with happy thoughts. And eventually I either fall back asleep or head downstairs to start the coffee.
If there is anything good about these nightmares, it's that they remind me exactly how good I have it in real life. They remind me not to take anything for granted.
But still, if I could turn them off, I would.
Do you have nightmares (that you remember)? How have they impacted you? Have you found any way to prevent them or lessen their emotional impact? Please share in the comments!
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Do you feel guilty because your work schedule limits your availability to your kids? Do you spoil them to try to compensate for time you're not able to spend with your children? Do you take them on expensive vacations or supply them with the newest gadgets to try to distract them from your absence? Do you pay for extracurricular activities that you wouldn't normally because it will give them something to do while you're not there?
If this sounds like your situation and you have a question for Dr. Phil - please email you're questions to at Bryan.valderrama@cbsparamount.com along with recent photos of yourself & your family . Thanks for writing Dr. Phil and thank you in advance for your response, we look forward to hearing from you!