Learning in the Dream Time

My son is very active.

I should rephrase that.

My only son is so full of energy, we could power the entire Western seaboard off him. The moment his eyes open, until the moment the finally drift closed, this boy is GOING. He is climbing, running, jumping, digging, swinging, sliding, exploring, peering, yelling, screaming, talking, walking, throwing, whirling, spinning and crouching. Just *thinking* about it is enough to make my head spin. He is 4 now. When he was 2, it left me in an exhausted puddle by son down, and I would be weeping upon son up. (I spelled that right, the boy was up before and after the sun)

Ok I think I have established that this boy is full of energy.

My son is also STRONG. He is built like a caveman, all muscles and no mind to pay attention, unless it interests him. As of yet, he is not one of my little intellectuals, but he is brilliant. At 18 months old, he could pull himself up and onto the 3.5 foot high trampoline. By 15 months, he had a toy screwdriver, and was accurately trying to dismantle the child gate so he could explore the buttons on the electronics.

So, last year, when he figured out how to walk up the trunk of the tree to hang out in the first set of branches, I wasn't surprised. He would hang out there for 20-30 minutes, before he would holler for someone to finally rescue him. FOr over a year now, he has been perfectly content to hang out right there, going no higher. (I'll come back to this.)

Wild boy is in the middle of a growth spurt. At this time last year, he was 40 inches tall. By July he was 42 inches tall. I can't find my measuring tape right now, but I assure you, he is about 44+ inches now!! Growth spurts mean a lot of eating and a lot of deep sleeping. To a boy who doesn't nap, it is frustratingly exhausting. When he sleeps, he sleeps DEEP. I can change his clothes, move him across the house, and even changed his diapers while he was sleeping if they needed it. This is good.

We process things in our sleep. Sleep Hypnosis is proof positive of that. While you dream and rest, your mind is being taught to do something differently. Even without hypnosis, our subconscious never sleeps. It is busy processing all those things that you saw, thought, said, and did each day. Sometimes, this can cause nightmares, especially if you've been around a lot of traumatic things in your life. Some days, you might wake up with new insight to a problem you've been dealing with, or you might have inspiration on how to rearrange the house for a better feel.

One thing I have noticed over the years, is that babies and children are sponges. They see and hear everything, and process it all constantly. You have seen this yourself. Your baby laying peaceful in bed, and suddenly they startle and scream, only to drift right back off. Or perhaps they start smiling and giggling at something in the dream time. You've seen it, even if you didn't realize it. I was astonished when I had been (unsuccessfully) teaching my baby something for a few weeks. After a while, I think, "maybe it's too soon" and I back off and move on to something else. Then one morning, out of no where, the baby looks at that activity, and DOES IT, right. *happy dance*

So after a year of hanging out in the tree, the other morning he woke up and did his morning things. We went out to water the garden, as the new routine requires. As I am turning on the hose, I see my son look up at the tree and beeline up it. I unrolled the hose and turned back around, and he is gone! Puzzled, since he can't get down yet, I start looking around. Not on the ground in a silent heap (WHEW) and not where he was expected. I look up, and see his toes 20 feet over my head!!!

I went about my garden work, wondering how we were going to handle it when he decided he was stuck, and had just decided to send my oldest up after him when it came time. I finished watering the garden, and turned off the water. By the time I had the hose rolled back up, he was in the crook of the tree like normal, asking to be taken down. It's been a week maybe since then? Well, yesterday, he got OUT OF THE TREE all by HIMSELF. No one showed him how. No body gave him the idea to go try it. He got it in his head, and then he did it. I am positive, he practiced it aplenty in the dream time, perfecting moves and plans before he even tried it awake.