Nightmares

I wonder if the various seasons in one's life can be defined by one's nightmares during that season of life. As a kid I remember having monster and other fanciful creature nightmares, nightmares with big dogs attacking . . . in grade school - nightmares of friends shunning me and of the classic 'forgetting to put on clothes and going to school', in college I'd have nightmares of realizing half-way through the semester that I have forgotten to attend a certain class I'd signed up for, etc . . .

Well, this morning I woke up and realized that I am truly in the full-fledged motherhood season of my life. My nightmare was horrific. Allison went to her first day of kindergarten and suddenly forgot how to use the bathroom. We had company over and I was cleaning the counters with - I think it was Comet - but the powder was turning my counters a solid shade of baby-blue. I was scraping with all my might to try to get it off. Someone had let me borrow a hand-sewn quiet-book and for some reason I felt the need to wash it in the washing machine. I had planned on putting it on the delicate cycle in cold water with just a little bit of detergent . . . however, went I left the laundry room for a moment, Anthony had come in and put the quiet book in the washer with all the dirty towels, on the regular cycle with hot water! Oh the horror. Potty-training, cleaning, and laundry - those are my nightmares. What else . . . did I have the dream where I went to run some errands and forgot Evan - who was sleeping at home . . . no, that's that one that plagues me during my waking hours. I'm driving in the car to the grocery store - the kids singing in the back seat - when *PANIC* - where's Evan! I don't hear him! I whip around in my seat - and, oh wait, I did remember to put him in the car.

The nightmares of a mother.