Bear Hunt Part Deux (posted Aug 2009)

I need to follow up the Bear Hunt post with what happened last night. Wyatt woke up fearing for his life, covered in sweat, screaming about bears in his room. Brett came to his rescue and tried to pat him back to sleep and calm his fears, to no avail. Thirty minutes later Wyatt is screaming again and banging on his door to be let out because bears are chasing him. I go in and sweep him off the floor and he says in the sweetest most scared tone I have ever heard, “Mama hold me peas. Bears. Da Bears.” He wraps both arms tightly around my neck and doesn’t let go. I end up taking him to our bed where he entwines his body in mine and tries with all his might to go back to sleep. Flash forward 2 hours and he is still wriggling around talking about bears and now lions and dolphins that are going to “get me”. What? At this point we hear Bentley begin to snore, which unfortunately is so loud and deep that is sounds like a lion. And OH MY GOSH THERE REALLY IS A LION IN THE ROOM! Wyatt starts to freak out all over again. “Mama wat dat dound? Wat dat dound? A Yion? A Yion, Mama, in you room?!!!” I really feel horrible for inflecting such anxiety and fear on the poor child. I think we might have to perform a bear exorcism or set up a bear trap around his room to calm his fears, ahhhh, or maybe arm him with “Bear Spray” i.e. a water bottle when he thinks he sees them. Do you think he is too young for the Red Rider BB Gun we have in the garage?