Stress Dream

Earlier this week on one of the IG Live events that Gretchen and Liz did they talked about dreams.  I am not normally one to remember my dreams but oh my did I have a doozy this morning.  I had not slept well last night and this morning when the youngest Padawan got up at normal time Mr. Padawan got up with him and I went back to sleep.  Oh, man was that a mistake. The youngest Padawan told me about a 'creepy' dream he had had before I fell asleep and it probably contributed to my stress dream. 

In my dream, I was years younger and a freshman in college, I had just gotten to my college and met a boy and got so distracted that I soon found myself on the first day of classes, I didn't know if I had registered for classes, I didn't have any notebooks or pens, I didn't know where I should go.  Yet I was still trying to figure it all out and present a cool, calm, and carefree attitude.  I was a cool kid, I didn't get stressed, at least that is what I was trying to present to the outside world.

In real life I am a pretty organized person, in fact, Mr. Padawan says that organization is my superpower so this dream was very unsettling for me.  I did not like waking up remembering this dream and feeling the rapid heartbeat from the dream.  Oddly enough, a cup of coffee and a hung from Mr. Padawan helped to settle me down.  That and watching my young Padawans do the things that a 7 and 9 year old Padawan will do, seeing their mostly carefree antics was good for my state of mind.

I do notice differences in both Padawans behavior and they are certainly feeling the stress and anxiety but knock on wood, they are not being overwhelmed by it so Mr. Padawan and I must be doing something right to help them keep it in check.

For my youngest Padawan, he is always high energy, but this morning I half heartedly joked that he was consuming jet fuel because he had so much ENERGY!  Based on that I think his stress is manifesting itself is behavior that is kind of wild and almost manic but not unmanageable, I just need to keep doing what I am doing and getting him outside to release that energy.

For my oldest Padawan, he is becoming very controlling and ridged.  I know from normal times that when he feels stressed and anxious he wants to control 

 EVERYTHING!  And we have strategies that we use for him to help him deal with those feelings.  Additionally, we do notice that he is spending more time in bed, particularly in the morning, he is awake and occasionally interacts with us but wants to just spend time in bed and 'chill'.