Conrad's First Remembered Dreams, Monster Wipes, And The Strange And Mysterious Unit

[dr_pretentious]

Now when Conrad has a nightmare, he continues to remember it once he wakes up. He can tell us about it. And he can form a fear that, if he falls asleep again, it might come back.

Now that we're back in this developmental stage, I can dimly remember, through a haze of old sleep deprivation, that we went through this with Gareth at about the same age. It'll pass, or at least cease to be a nightly issue. Meanwhile, oh, the suckage! Conrad mostly seems to dream about being chased and bitten--by birds, monsters, his older brother, and who knows what else. Sometimes he has happy dreams, too, laughing and talking in his sleep, but of course those dreams don't wake him up. Wouldn't it be convenient to be able to say to him, when he wakes from a nightmare, "Hey, remember how you woke from that happy dream just a couple of hours ago? You might go back to that one next."

Instead, we've told him that the disinfecting wipes we use for toys and other germy surfaces are Monster Wipes. Monsters can't stand the smell of them, just the way ants and pantry moths can't stand the smell of thyme oil. Every night, Dan wipes down Conrad's bed, and the doors and window of the boys' bedroom, so that monsters won't come in. This strategy has been more effective than anything else. Alas, Gareth has figured out that we're telling Conrad a fib, so this whole routine could lose its effectiveness at any moment.

Conrad's predicament has been much on my mind during my teaching prep hours, which have been full of Poe. A bunch of my tutoring students are reading Poe at school, in something their teachers refer to as "the strange and mysterious unit." I always think it with capital letters, as the title of an imaginary Poe story in its own right. For more about that, you can check out my Black Gate post for this week.

Comments

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

Maybe a new brand of wipes with an "Monster Wipes" label made on the computer and laminated with clear tape. Perhaps the kind with a rough texture for "rubbing out" the tough NJ monsters might work. ;-) Good luck. Or maybe a dream catcher? (I can make one for you if you like).

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I'd forgotten all about the dream catchers we used with Gareth. Did I mention the haze of old sleep deprivation? We should totally break them out and put them back in circulation. Thank you!

[violet-moon25.livejournal.com]

I know all about child inflicted sleep deprivation! Handy that you already have dream catchers. I hope you all sleep well with them.

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Okay, so it's the ritual of using them, plus the belief in their efficacy, that's doing the trick. Surely you can come up with a better ritual than that? :-D

Teach them some uber-basic warding something-or-other, and do it with them every night. Learning the real thing won't do them a bit of harm, and having that under their belt their whole life might well do them a world of good.

(Or failing the ritual, at least a more believable talisman. Surely you've got something made of iron laying around, or you could help them make their own rowan-and-red-thread godseyes, or something. >:-P )

Monster wipes. Tell Gareth ten bonus points from Aunt Keith for seeing through THAT one. ;-)

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

You've been party to, or at least present at, more teaching of the Craft to kids than I have. If you happen to recall a kid-tested warding that you'd recommend, I'd be most appreciative if you would email it to me, or even post it here if you feel that's appropriate. I can think of a Minnesotan or two to ask, too, now that I think of it.

Your suggestions for faerie-proofing gave me an excellent start on a short story, by the way. I'm making good time on it now, and if it tops out at 7,000 words, as I hope it will, it might be in readable condition by the end of this month.

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

Is there a toy sword available, by chance? If not, is there budget to introduce one? (Or one for each of them, if you think they'll fight over it?) Or something to use as a wizard's staff or magic wand, anything you think they'll go for and not immediately break. Something they can use to touch the boundaries of their space. (Up to you if they're up for "cast a circle", but it sounds like the monster wipes were basically defining boundaries, so even just touching the four walls or the bedposts or whatever should do it.)

If it were me, I'd make a little ritual out of consecrating the sword or staff (I almost put that word in quotes, and then I thought, why on earth shouldn't it be a real consecration? :-), to make sure they understand that it's magic. And then, especially if it's a sword, given his name, I would totally knight Gareth as Knight Protector of the Bedroom, or something, unless he's already sick to death of all the Arthurian references.

Then build some simple procedure together; let them add something if they want, as long as they don't pick something that feels magically inconsistent to you. Off the top of my head, I'd say, with the two of them plus whichever of you is putting them down (or both of you, whatever), get everything ready for bed, and then before they climb in, have Gareth touch all four walls with the sword/staff (or even draw a circle around the room), and recite some little charm. Is he up for memorizing a little rhyme yet? How's this?

By the sun and the moon,
This is our room,
Defended all about;
Around we spin
So good dreams can come in,
But monsters all have to stay out!

It doesn't have to rhyme, of course, or even be the same each time, but they'll give it more power if it seems like a spell -- exactly the same as we do -- so some sort of "magic words" is a good plan. Let them yell it as loud as they want, it'll work better. If you do it with them the first few times, they'll pick it up and remember it soon enough. (I would even volunteer to send you a "page from a book of spells" you could print out and show them, with that spell on it all big and fancy, if you wanted to go all "ancient and powerful spell of protection" on it. :-)

Then place the sword/staff somewhere prominent and protective, like over their headboards or or mounted on the inside of their door, and then climb into bed for stories. (Your call whether "stories without monsters" or "stories where monsters are soundly defeated" will be better supportive text for the first few nights -- assuming they give you any choice about what to read. :-)

And you may as well teach them good magical manners early on -- have them thank the sword for protecting them, and thank the gods if they do bedtime prayers or anything.

If the sword thing won't work, for some reason, you could just try the simpler approach of introducing a protective talisman or guardian figure. Do they know from your patroness yet? A Hecate doll or statue on a shelf would work wonders, you know she'll help. Or summon a friendly dragon, that lives in a little statue, or whatever they'd go for -- a knight defender, a monkey flinging poo, anything their imaginations will get behind as a helping spirit. (If you go for a fairy theme, set your conditions carefully. :-)

[onyxtwilight.livejournal.com]

CONTINUED . . .

Running out of comment space before.

Never did anything quite this elaborate with the littlest kids, though we did used to have to ward Luci's room carefully if she was going to be in bed/asleep when her mother planned to Draw. She could feel it, and she would wake up and freak out when Gerri "went away." She also once woke up screaming from a dead sleep in the middle of the night, as I was doing a guided journey thing for someone a couple rooms away -- and the exact element I had just introduced into the journey (a white horse arriving to carry the journeyer to Faery) was what she was screaming about. So we shielded her room pretty heavily, and didn't involve her in that process at the time, because it was clear that it was heightened sensitivity, plus the stimulus of high psychic activity elsewhere in the house. (I did, years later, teach her to ward her own room, and left her my old [$30 from Cutlery World] ritual sword as a protective talisman, but she was 12 or so by then.)

With bedtime monsters, it's a bit different, so I would definitely involve them in the process. Nearly anything will work if it captures their imagination and they believe it, so make a story out of it and sell it with absolute conviction. Nobody believes harder than a little kid. Tie it to the rest of the bedtime ritual, and pretty soon, it'll be so ingrained that it's almost automatic.

One side thought: to avoid Dumbo syndrome, change it up every so often. Keep some elements consistent, but add things or change things, so they don't fall into "but we didn't do it EXACTLY RIGHT, so it WON'T WORK" trap. And consider traveling when you're deciding on your props, make them something you can take with you or build a traveling option in from the beginning, so you can do it when you're not at home. (That's one good argument in favor of making it all about the charm -- the words are entirely portable, even in a situation where you couldn't grab the talisman.)

[criada.livejournal.com]

I don't know how well it would work for Conrad, but when plunderpuss had nightmares (specifically about lions, IIRC) his mom told him to "turn the lions into balloons." When he went back to sleep, that's what he did, and now the lucky fucker only ever has lucid dreams.
I think the dreamcatcher idea sounds great, especially if it's a family tradition.

[showingup.livejournal.com]

Lavender water/essential oil in water in a spray bottle might be a good way of driving off or transforming into allies any Monsters that get in. If they get that lavender is protective, and have the spray bottles to hand, they can actively protect themselves. Also, lavender's sleep-supporting qualities are helpful.

My inclination would be to tell them that if the Monsters are bad through and through, the lavender will make them go away and stay away, but if they're friends in disguise, the spray will break the spell that makes them seem bad and they will turn into helpers instead. Or something.