My son is three and a half. He doesn’t always sleep well and most nights wakes up, calling for mommy or crawling into our bed. He is sensitive and after parties with other kids playing a bit rough, he gets nightmares. He has night terrors 2 or 3 times a year.Last night we had a party at the neighbour and my son ran about having fun with the many kids, my wife and I commented that it may be a rough night. As expected, he woke up at 1:30am crying and calling for mummy. He was only semi awake and his crying quickly became screaming. I entered the room and my son immediately reacted like He was afraid of me, screaming at me to go away. Over the next 25 minutes he behaved like this, pushing me out the door, telling me to go downstairs, ranting and fighting. I would sit on the floor or bed next to him, alternating between reassuring and asking him why he was angry or afraid of daddy.At some point he says ‘it’s a secret’ and now my own alarm bells are going off. My wife was recording some of this on her phone. I’m now aware that his behaviour might be appropriate for a kid experiencing abuse, I’m horrified because he’s acting that way towards me. I’m now even more invested in trying to get my son to explain why, and to tell us his secret if only to remove this awful suspicion that I’m sure my wife is also seeing. I go so far as to make a deal where I do go sleep downstairs if he agrees to tell mommy the reason/secret.Things settled down after this and he said he didn’t know why he was pushing me away. And he slept between us as he often does. This morning I felt entirely traumatised. He has acted this way towards me 2 or 3 times, and he never remembers in the morning. My wife showed our son the video and he seemed very confused and didn’t get it. The whole ‘secret’ thing really freaked me out and I expressed this to my wife, she reminded me that he’d learned it in a story she’d read to him. When I told her that I was freaked out that his behaviour, objectively speaking, would make me concerned that he was being abused, she said she thought the same thing.So now I’m not only freaked out that my son behaved that way, but also that my wife might think I’d be capable of hurting our son. This is devastating to me as I pride myself on being a good dad. Coming from a family with a conservative, distant dad who never expressed love, I am very engaged, communicative and loving. My wife assured me that she trusts me, as I sob into her shoulder. I tell her that if she has any doubt she should take him to a child psychologist. I even say that as a responsible parent she should do it anyway...My son doesn’t really show other worrying warning signs (after a google this morning). He is in no way sexualised or inappropriate with other kids. This morning he’s his sweet, loving self. My heart is a bit broken though. I don’t know what I want from you, Reddit. Maybe I’m just venting. Advice, maybe? Is this more normal than I think? via /r/Parenting https://ift.tt/2UqbTkO
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