Chapter 13 - ELI’S NIGHTMARES
Eli had nightmares for three months.
Steel rod.
Grass.
Conrad.
Not every night.
Enough.
Dr. Sarah Klein, a child therapist, worked through play.
He built fences from blocks.
Then knocked them down.
Put toy figures on opposite sides.
Moved them.
Repeated:
“My ball.”
Possession was the part he understood.
Then one session he used a plastic stick and struck the floor near another toy figure.
Dr. Klein asked what happened.
“Conrad scare.”
“How does little Eli feel?”
“Cry.”
“What happens next?”
“Daddy come.”
That mattered.
Then:
“Does Daddy hit Conrad?”
Eli pushed one toy backward.
I hated seeing myself in plastic.
Dr. Klein later said:
“Children remember protection and aggression together. You can help him separate them.”
So I did.
I told him:
“Daddy stopped Conrad. Daddy also pushed hard because Daddy was angry.”
“Bad?”
“Part of it was not the best way.”
May you like
Again.
Children deserve adults who can survive nuance.
