The dream that goes on for 7 years

Back when Nate did stand-up, (before he knew me, I should add) he used to have this funny bit about how annoying it was when women woke up and told you their dreams. In this mocking falsetto voice, he’d say, “…and then you cheated on me! With THREE girls! And then I woke up. And now I’m SO MAD at you.”

I laughed on the outside; on the inside I was like…oops.That would be me.

Now, karma is paying me back.

Every morning, Thalia breathlessly describes to me in great detail her mind’s subconscious exploits. And then we went up to the library? And then Emma? She was with me, and then the library teacher read us a book? And then we heard the first page, and then we heard the second page and then we heard the third page and it was a Halloween story? And then the library teacher read us a second book? And that part was really funny because someone said hey, that’s not a Halloween book. And then you know what happened next..?

This pretty much continues through breakfast, while we’re getting dressed, with only a brief pause for teeth-brushing. If I’m lucky, she’ll remember just where she left off later that evening, and when I’m tucking her into bed, she’ll ask to finish.

I’m totally torn between smiling and nodding, acting like her every syllable is a gift from the fairies, while I scream silently in my head; and telling her outright to keep it to less than a half hour.

Sage, however, is more like Nate.

Ask her what she dreamed about and she swats you with one of her dolls and tries to go back to sleep.

Good thing they’re cute.

sisters

 

 

 

{25 Comments}

25 thoughts on “The dream that goes on for 7 years”

  1. It’s funny – my kids are both non-talkers in the morning. We’re all not morning people so there is usually silence. But it is nice that Thalia shares so much with you – most kids don’t share anything at all with their moms. Don’t forget that.

  2. Ha, I had a dream the other night that my husband left me, with just one bag of clothes and a loaf of bread. And I DID wake up mad at him. But then I realized it was just a dream and we laughed about it.

    I also like the perspective that it’s nice to have a daughter that shares with you. My daughter sometimes needs a bit of time to wake up, but she shares quite a bit with us. I’m thankful for that, even if it can sometimes turn into a 7 year dream story.

  3. And one time in band camp… Oh I feel your pain. My seven year old recounts episodes of Annoying Orange and Phineas and Ferb in painful excruciating detail. “Mommy! You’re not listening. Did you hear me when I said what Orange said? Why aren’t you LAUGHING?”

    1. Oh my gosh, YES to the TV recaps. Is that what we sound like around the water cooler talking about Bravo? (Heh.)

  4. He he, I liked this post. Getting mad at people for dreams… My kids do talk about their dreams if they wake up from it and then we have to do therapy session before we can go back to sleep.
    Yes, they are munchy 🙂

  5. well, my kid is only 1, so i don’t hear about his dreams yet — but i DO have a husband who will not shut up about every dream he remembers in vivid detail from the night before. i don’t really care if he is “sharing” with me or not (i’m more of a quiet-morning non-talker) and frankly he can keep it to himself. 🙂 hopefully the baby takes after me.

  6. Ohhhh, I used to do that to my mom. And dad. And brother, who was one of those stoic types, not just in the morning but always. I ‘m pretty sure I thought they thought I was so funny and cute but as I’m thinking about it, they used to offer me money to be quiet. So maybe I wasn’t?

  7. I once read, in Seventeen Magazine, that telling people your dreams is a NO-NO: they’re boring. I’ve never gotten over it (except with my shrinks).

  8. Liz,
    I had to look twice at the picture of the adorable girls. I thought it was you hugging Sage….eerie but oh so nice

  9. And the question marks? And starting sentences with “and” so often? My son, (7) still tells me every little detail of every little action and every bit of every story with a question at the end of every sentence. I do tune out, but I have to keep my sanity. I told him to “sum it up” at about chapter 22 of his book description this weekend and he was terribly insulted.

  10. My 3 year olds dreams consist of Shrek, Fiona and any other movie character she can think of at that second. Pretty sure she still doesn’t get what the dreams are yet, but at least they are still happy characters right now. 🙂

  11. I’ve been known to say, “walk and talk, honey….walk and talk…..” while I’m trying to get everyone out the door and Girl Child is mid-story.

    Also, I may or may not close the car door mid-sentence because I know I’ll not have missed anything by the time I get to my side.

  12. Oh, my. My son does this too. And he doesn’t just tell me all about his dreams in great detail, either. He also tells me about what he watched on TV, what he heard on the radio, what he and the boy next door pretended in their pretend Star Wars Firefighting Space Police Pirates game, what Daddy said in the car ride on the way home . . .

    Yet if I actually ask him a question like “How did the party go” or “What did you do at school today?” he’ll say “I can’t remember” or “nothing important.”

    Anyway I choose to view his endless narration of his own life story as evidence that he’ll grow up to be a writer.

  13. Yes! I get a blow-by-blow of the previous night’s dream from my seven-year-old daughter while I’m in the shower in the morning and she’s on the toilet. I’m thinking this won’t last forever 😉

  14. My girls have changed it up. My older (7yo in two weeks. Wait, what?) used to be a chatter box, but she has become quiet… and a little bossy. My younger (4yo) starts talking once she wakes up (which, mercifully, can take up to 15 minutes) and just goes and goes and goes and sometimes she sings.

    I try to store it up for their teenage years, when they won’t talk to me at all. So there’s that.

  15. So funny I JUST had this conversation with Ivy the other day- I asked her what she dreamed about and she said “what’s a dream?” and it was really cool to explain it to her.

    Steph

  16. Why is that?

    Why do women care so much about their dreams?

    I do get angry at my husband when he cheats on me in my dreams. And if I have a dream that really upsets me, I have to talk to someone about it.

    My husband? Couldn’t care less what his mind did while he slept.

  17. When my daughter was 18 months and just learning to talk, she would talk in her sleep. I remember “Hang on tight to doggie!”, and “no no doggie” and “eat it all up”. It made me laugh – I actually liked her waking me up in the night to hear about her toddler dreams.

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