When one of my sons was little, he began to develop severe anxiety at nighttime. As I was tucking him in, he’d get flooded with anxious thoughts, mostly centered on his upcoming birthday. It was hard for him to fully express, but he told me that something about that transition was scaring him; he thought everything would change after he turned his new age.
No matter what I told him — no matter how much I reassured him that he and his life would be just the same, and that age is just a number — he couldn’t shake the fear and anxiety. He also began to experience nightmares several times a week. They were so intense that he would crawl into bed with us, not even remembering what the nightmares were about, only that they scared him and woke him up. Click here to read more…