Afraid of the Dark

Lately, Oliver has been telling me about bad dreams and has been more afraid of the dark. I was cautiously asking about the dreams and fear of the dark because this boy can be a bit of a manipulator. I wanted to make sure that this wasn't another way to get something that he wanted. I'm working on it with him, trying to not draw too much attention to it, let him talk though the dreams or fears, reassure him that we are all here and safe and hopefully not creating new habits that will be even harder to break. For instance, he has asked me every night for the last week if he could sleep with us, as hard as it is to say no to a teary eyed boy, I've stood strong on this one. Trust me, it's not easy when the boy is telling me, "the dark outside scares me mom-mom, it doesn't stop! The dark keeps coming and coming and it never stops," to tell him that he has to trust that he is safe, that mom-mom and daddy won't let the dark hurt him and that he has to sleep in his own bed. He does have some dim lights that I allow in his room and that helps some and I've relied heavily on Raffey the Giraffe, Blackberry the Route 66 Bear and now Jumpy Woody to get him to sleep. Oliver opened up this Woody doll on Christmas day and they have been side by side quite a bit! Overtired and up past his bed time on Christmas night he had a very hard time getting to sleep and putting his fears aside. I too was overtired and up past my bedtime and Oliver's sobs almost did me in. I finally settled him down and he fell asleep, I went back in later to check on him and this is how I found him...