The Dream Catcher

Friday afternoon, Celeste brought home a kit to make a dream catcher. Her class had been studying native Americans for the past two weeks. One of the parents had donated dream catcher kits for each child to make their own. Since the kits were fairly complicated, Mrs. Margo sent them home as a weekend project with instructions to bring them back to school Monday or Wednesday to share.

Naturally, Celeste wanted to work on hers right away. My crafty fingers were itching to try out a new project and so I went to work. I ignored the instructions and made a beautiful dreamcatcher with string, beads and feathers which were included in the kit. To cover some knots that I had made, I glued some Perler beads directly onto the net part of the catcher. Lest you think I did it all myself, I must mention, that Celeste designed the color placement and pattern of the beads, floss and feathers.

We hung up the dreamcatcher on one of the bedposts Friday night. This morning, Saturday morning, Celeste came to me with a frown.

"Mom, the dream catcher didn't work. I had a bad dream." Celeste had learned that the dream catcher's job was to catch bad dreams so kids could sleep peacefully.

I didn't know what to say to that, but I did ask Celeste what kind of dream she had.

"It was a dream about bears chasing me." She said. She was concerned about the dream catcher the rest of the day. I didn't know how to help her.

Some time around 3pm, Celeste came to me with an idea. "Mom, I think that if I hang the dream catcher over my head, it will be able to catch my bad dreams. I don't think it could catch them from the bedpost."

She then went into the utility drawer and cut herself a piece of picture hanging wire. She took the wire and draped it over one of the slats of the bunk bed above her head. She fashioned one loop on each end of the wire and attached the loops to the dream catcher. When I went to look, I saw it well-positioned exactly over her pillow.

When nighttime came, we went through our usual routine and I tucked the girls into bed. I went to the computer to work a little bit. I heard the girls' bedroom door open. Emme came into our home office where I was working. She was frowning.

"Mommy, I can't sleep with the dream catcher. It's pulling the dreams out of my head." She said. Then with the graceful flow of her tiny hands she demonstrated how the catcher was pulling the dreams out of her ears. I went into the bedroom where I found Celeste frowning and sitting up.

I said, "Celeste, we need to move the dream catcher back to the bedpost or to the dresser drawer knob because it's making Emme have bad dreams, and if it's making Emme have bad dreams, then it's not working right."

"Mommy," reasoned Celeste, "It's not working right because you glued two Perler beads onto the net."

After some unsuccessful negotiating, I resorted to the truth. "Dream catchers don't really catch dreams girls. They don't catch bad dreams and they don't catch good dreams. They are just beautiful ornaments that the native Americans made to decorate their homes."

Celeste looked utterly disappointed. "But how are my bad dreams going to go away?"

"You pray." I told her. "That always works for me. It's not magic. It's real and it's the only thing that works. That, and thinking beautiful thoughts before going to sleep."

"But what should I think about?" Celeste asked.

We talked about her upcoming birthday and tomorrow's cookie party at Aunt Vanessa's. I moved the dream catcher to the dresser drawer knob and both girls were satisfied. "Mom, I have a story to tell you. It's a short one." Celeste yawned.

"Tell me."

"I can't remember. I just know it ends with happily ever after."

"Good night girls. I love you."

both: "Good night mama. I love you too."