FIRST KISS Part 8 66

Upon switching hats from 'pre school teacher' to prepubescent counselor, I sat down on my child's bed and listened to what had been over heard at camp:


Some kids had been discussing wets dreams and not wanting to be thought naive (as truthful as that would have been) my child listened to the little that had been over heard and then surmised to know the rest by filling in the blanks.

As I conjure up this memory, decades later, I laugh, again, to think of how my child's mind filled in the blanks:

Older kids (maybe counselors) had been discussing wet dreams when my child approached, and once the presence of a younger camper had joined the group, that conversation dried up.  So here's the simple explanation that the inexperienced (and thus innocent and naive) mind of a child surmised:

When we fall asleep, we dream.
Sometimes while we're asleep
Our mouths fall open
So if we're asleep and dreaming
And our mouths fall open
Then in the morning
When we wake up ...
And find drool on our pillow
That means we had a wet dream.
Right, Mom?

Trying not to belly laugh out loud
I set the record straight
And needless to say
My child was astounded
To learn
That drool on the pillow
Had nothing
To do
With a wet dream
At all!

No doubt about it—Art Linkletter would have had a ball, interviewing kids who grow up in a house where anything and everything is addressed in an emotional atmosphere of open, honest, unembarrassed, mutually respectful trust.  A home in which all ages understand that respect, accountability and consequences go hand in hand creates an environment where learning is enriched, all around.


However, it's not enriching or funny when adults fill in blanks and pass on their assumptions as facts.  In this way doth gossip slice the truth to ribbons by passing misinformation forward.  Mistaking your assumptions for facts, time and again is a deal breaker.  (So if you see yourself as non-judgmental, well, that may be another example of an assumption in need of reconsideration ... more about that, later.)


How often do kids (and adults) get in trouble, based upon misconception of the facts.  If you see yourself as non-judgmental—as I'd once seen myself—is it possible that one side of your brain has you as fooled about your nature as mine had fooled me?

Along this line of thinking, here's why I'd like to let my train of thought flow down memory lane for a little longer:  Upon writing BULLY FOR ME I'd no clue that part of mind was stuck in a rut, because a large portion of that trauma had remained painfully raw.  So as you watched, I worked to peel away at that mental block, post by post.  And having experienced that process of healing, perhaps instinct is directing these memories to emerge in order to bolster my self confidence with positive focus, in case I'm about to peel away layers of self protection—thus offering myself opportunities to learn something new about my subconscious insecurities, again ...