2008-02-22T13:36:25-08:00 Most people don’t have memories from early childhood. I actually have a couple from when I was a toddler. One, in fact, was a vivid nightmare that launched a series of scary dreams that drove me to the comfort of my parents bed for many years. This nightmare, which I can clearly recall, happened when I was only 2 years old. I was in my crib sleeping when all of a sudden a German Shepherd tore through the bottom of the crib. With its large head sticking out from the hole in the crib, the dog was snapping at me and tried to bite me. To protect myself from it, I crouched quivering in the corner of the crib. To escape the vicious beast, I woke up. While my mom remembers that I had this dream, she doesn’t remember when I started talking about it. And she remembers associating it with one day when she was taking a walk with me in a stroller. She recalls that I had spotted a large dog. She doesn’t remember if the dog had come up close to me. The dog certainly didn’t try to bite me. I don’t remember this encounter with the dog, but I do know that I was a highly sensitive child. Other than this rendezvous with the pooch, I was barely around dogs as a kid, except for when I would visit my father’s parents who lived close by. They had two German Shepherds fenced off in the front yard, which I had to walk past before entering their home. In addition, my paternal grandparents owned a pizzeria where my father worked. My dad worked long days, every day of the week. As a child, I looked forward to spending time with my dad when he was home. Plus, I might have been a bit possessive about it when I was a toddler, because when I was young I tended to get that way with those I loved. christine.porretta@kaboose.com 12 dream_screenshots/00/00/00/ff174860-c3a2-012a-e564-005056c00008.png 0 false true It’s hard to understand what that German Shepherd meant because the nightmare happened so long ago, but the chance encounter with the large dog as a toddler probably doesn’t account for the intense fear experienced in the nightmare. Being attacked by an animal is a common dream throughout the world, and it occurs when a person feels threatened, either by a specific person or some emotion within themselves. The crib is a safe place, so by sticking its large head into this private space, the German Shepherd could’ve signified an intrusion into the father-child relationship. The bigness of the head could’ve symbolized an overwhelming feeling. Plus, it’s common for kids to dream about the threat of being devoured. They can even take literally an innocent expression like “You’re so cute, I could eat you up.” So the German Shepherd’s intrusion additionally could’ve represented a resentment for the pizzeria Grandma and Grandpa owned—an eatery that was consuming Dad’s time, keeping him away from home. true 8 2009-04-14T11:48:49-07:00 2008-02-22T13:29:53-08:00 My sister, brother and I are having a pool day with my mom and dad. After finishing lunch, my mom let me go to the snack bar and buy myself a roll of large Sweet Tarts. As I was walking back to the pool area, where my family was sitting, I heard screaming and turned my attention to the pool gate. That was when I say three lions, or rather three men dressed as lions, running furiously toward the other pool visitors. Each lion was a different color – one was red, another yellow, and the last was blue. The lions ran around the pool grabbing people and killing them by either throwing them in the pool, or just approaching them, and I would see the people fall over and die. At that point I was still near the snack bar, just watching all of these people die. The lions growled at my family and they died. I soon realized that my family had died, and I tried to run away from the lions who then realized that I was the only live person left at the pool. I ran over to the pool with the diving boards and climbed up the steps of the short board. I walked all the way to the end of the board and crouched down into a squat. I saw one of the lions slowly climb the stairs to the short diving board. He walked closer to me and put his hands out. I then jumped into the water, which ended the dream. deirdre.uria@kaboose.com 10 dream_screenshots/00/00/00/155d60c0-c3a2-012a-e564-005056c00008.png 0 false true It is clear that this child is experiencing some sort of chaotic change in her awake state, as the scene goes from that of pleasure and happiness to chaos and disorder. It is significant that the wording and descriptions present this scene through a childlike lens. Additionally, the repetition of the number three is important -- three children, three lions, and three different colors. This number is significant in the life of the dreamer, perhaps relating to the number of children in her family. The lions are interesting because sometimes the scary people or things that children dream about exhibit characteristics that that child might need, as in : strength, courage, and presence. Many of the other symbols in her dream represent transition, growing up, and change, including: the gate, climbing of the diving board steps, diving into water, and the death of her parents. In addressing the fact that this is re-occurring, I would say the child was very stressed in her waking stage, and this dream is a symbol for her during any time of stress and chaos. true 8 2009-04-22T09:49:49-07:00