As a kid, the process of falling asleep gave me considerable anxiety. I didn't like the dark and I didn't like how wild my imagination ran at times (the proverbial monsters in the closet and under the bed thing). I usually fell asleep with my head under the covers and waking up with huge relief in the morning to find the world at peace.
Among our four children, our youngest who is our only daughter and is six years old, has the most anxiety about sleeping. It is one of her goals this year not to wander into Mom and Dad's room in the middle of the night and I must say she is doing much better. I had been wondering what she thought of this and so the other night, she and I were talking about falling asleep.
I asked her, "So, what do you do to help yourself fall asleep?"
"I watch movies in my brain."
"Movies? Really, what kind of movies?"
"Movies that my brain makes up. They show up when I close my eyes."
"What if the movie isn't a good movie?"
"Oh, that's easy. If I pull my left ear, a new movie shows up. If I pull my right ear, the last movie comes up again."
She then demonstrated how this is done so naturally that it was clear that this was very routine in her life and was a big reason that she has done better sleeping alone.
Boy, technology these days, so much more advanced for our kids....
"New technology for falling asleep?"
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