At 4:00a.m. this morning, I awakened in a fright. I had just dreamt that my 13yr. old sonny boy was arrested for shoplifting. Now, if you know my son, you would know how unlikely that would be.
In this dream the three of us had gone to Rite Aide Pharmacy. Sonny boy always goes to the magazine asile. Dad and I leave and as we drive away we realize that we left son in the store. So I pull back around and park and suggest that dad stays in the car as I am only picking son up. As I enter the store, I see sonny boy being guided by an unkn w/m who has his one hand on the back of his navy blue stripped shirt, pushing him forward into a back room. I immediately know what is going on because of my law enforcement background. I am in a frenzy now and all I can think about is sonny boys emotional state. I also think that he was picked out because he was hanging around the asile for a long time and they probably became suspicious of his activity as there were no other people around.
Long story short I awakened in a panic with my heart racing. I compelled myself to relax and began to digest what the dream consisted of. The first thing I thought about was, I needed to have a converation with sonny boy about shoplifting.
As I continued to fester over the dream, I came to the realization that we needed to have more than a shoplifting conversation with him. Sonny boy will be making the transition to high school in the fall. As a teen going to high school, he will be encountering situations that may or may not affect his future such as grades, study habits, peers, racism, drugs, sex, teen love, and much more. So now that I think about it, this dream was telling me that now was the time to sit son down and have life conversations. Dad and I will no longer be able to hold sons hands. It is time to let go and watch him grow.
So now, as we still have his attention, is the time to give him the tools he would need to move forward. I know that he will roll his eyes and squirm about as we talk, I also know that he will be listening in his own way and one day as he continue to live and grow he will be faced with many decisions and he will remember the life conversation we had and make the right decision.
