Bedtime nightmares

The latest in the sleep saga with Jackson happened 3 nights ago.  At 4:30 AM Jackson came RUNNING into my room yelling, "The dinosaur ate me!!"  I could tell it was very real and VERY scary to him, so I let him climb into bed with me.  After a few moments of cuddling, I rolled away hoping to get back to sleep.  He started shaking and quivering.  I asked what was wrong and once again he talked of dinosaurs.  I've never seen someone so scared that they shook; it made me so sad.  The entire next day, he was terrified of his room and talked about the dinosaur eating him.  He couldn't go alone anywhere near his room.  We tried reasoning with him (dinos are extinct, they are too big, look, you didn't get eaten! It was just a dream) and then we tried playing along (Dinos are scared of your puppy dog, let's spray some magic dino repellent).  That night, after over 10 times running out of his room and begging us to sleep with him, he finally fell asleep, lights on, door open, clinging to Wilbur (his bear).


Dave and I wonder, At what point does a child need to learn coping skills for fear?  Are we not loving him enough when we make him go to sleep alone in his room?  Should we sleep with him and comfort him?  He is only 3 . . .  Is he going to be scarred from fears that weren't alleviated?  or if we give in, will we create habits that are tough to break?
I, myself, have awful dreams.  I wake with my heart racing and fear running through my whole body.  I tell myself it was a dream and it isn't real, but the feeling and the fear is still real and I am so glad to have someone to curl up to and get comfort from (I think human touch makes reality come back into focus).  So I feel bad making him sleep alone.  I know how scary and REAL dreams can be.  I feel so sad for him.  Any tips or advice from parents out there?



 On better news, today was our first day of pre-school!

 I have been working really hard at creating a group of mothers to swap teaching pre-school together.  I made a few posters (spending far more time than anyone should on a preschool project).  I made very detailed lesson plans (most of which did NOT happen as I hoped).  

I assumed everyone was like Jackson and it turns out . . .they aren't.  Most 3-year-old's don't know their alphabet, aren't potty trained perfectly, won't sit and color or do anything for that matter, won't sing along, don't have an attention span, can't follow directions and can't answer questions.  Obviously, Jackson is my child, so maybe he performed better because he knows me and knows what I do, but I was very impressed at how well he did (and a little unraveled at how to get the other kids to do it).   I am excited to have a chance to teach Jackson with other friends and He's excited to have the experiences with friends as well.   Tonight, I quizzed Jackson on the 3 rules we learned (which was one of the only 'new to him' things) and he knew all three! 

 He is learning!  I LOVE watching kids learn (bet you didn't know that based on my career choice, huh?) and it is even more exciting when it is my own kid.

We had an awesome day with a friend from Orem who was in town.  Her hotel had an awesome 'water park' at it.  We swam in the pool, kiddie area, lazy river and hot tub.  The kids loved it, and even the 'chilly' 70 degree weather didn't hamper the fun.  Thanks for letting us come Stacey!  It was so good to see old friends!