Things that go "Mommy!" in the night

My recent streak of about ten straight nights of great sleep was broken early this morning. Around 2:30 am, I awoke to hear "Mommy! Daddy! Mommy! Daddy!" coming from Aidan's room. James, of course, Mr. Light Sleeper who "hears everything at night" did not stir. I managed to find the edge of bed, get up and make my way to Aidan's room without colliding with any walls, door jambs or furniture, which is a minor miracle - after all, I collide with those things even when it is not 2:30 am or have just been awakened from a deep sleep.

Aidan was sitting up in bed and when I asked what was wrong, he said "I need help in thinking of some good dreams." It seems that he was having bad dreams and when I asked what the bad dreams were about, he said the Man Game.

Ah, yes, the Man Game. The subject of one of the few parenting disagreements that James and I have. The Man Game is our family's name for World of Warcraft, which is a multi-player online role-playing game. We call it the Man Game because a character - usually a man - is created and then played in the fantasy Warcraft world. James has been playing the game for several years and Aidan decided he wanted to play, too. I think he is far too young to play such a game, but I was overruled; James helped Aidan set up his man and taught him the basics of play.

Playing the Man Game is a reward for Aidan. If he does what he is supposed to do at home and at school, he is allowed to play for a set amount of time every other day. He has done surprisingly well at the game, but I have strong concerns about a game where the character battles other characters, usually very scary characters such as ogres (not the Shrek variety), zombies and skeletons.

And last night, some of my concerns were validated by Aidan's bad dreams. After he told me about the dreams, I suggested that he dream about Christmas, going to see the Clydesdales on Saturday, playing outside, then rubbed his back and made his lie down. He fell asleep pretty quickly and I heard nothing more from him the rest of the night.

While I do not plan any immediate action, I will file it away and see if further bad dreams ensue. And, next time, I am elbowing James to get up and see to his son's middle of the night anxiety.