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Monday, August 1, 2016

Perception is Reality

There is a bright light shining in my eyes. It's overpowering me. I cannot look away. I cannot move. I'm paralyzed. I try to wiggle my way out. What is happening to me? Am I dead? Where is my mommy? I see people. Wait. I think they are people. They are blue, they have no mouths or noses only big shiny plastic eyes. What the hell is going on? I want to scream but I can only cry. They are coming at me. They are hurting me. My face burns. Why would my family let this happen? Where is my mom? Are these things killing me?

This is a recurring nightmare that I have had since I could remember. It is actually my first every memory that I can recall. Imagine that! I asked my mom over and over again what it could be. I have told my brother and sister again and again for like 30 something years and of course they laughed at me. I was convinced I was abducted by aliens and put through some sort of experiments. 

The explanation is a little more simple, of course. When I was a kid, I decided to make a "yellow brick road" out of magazines and skip all over it. I fell and bashed my head on the big ol' console tv in my parents house and had to go to the hospital for stitches. Sooooooo, what I was remembering all this time was me in the Emergency Room (circa 1979 probably) getting stitches. 

The point of me telling this story, which I tell often, is not that I wasn't abducted by aliens. The point is that little kids go through brand new things everyday. They are looking to us to explain and react with care and consideration to their feelings. We have to offer age appropriate explanations and actions so that they can be secure in that what they are going through is valid. If they are scared, sometimes it may seem silly to us, but the way they (with our help, sometimes) work through their fear is much more important that we think sometimes. It can mean the difference between them facing challenges or shying away from them in the future. Of course all kids are different, but if you spend enough time you'll know what I mean. 

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