While I was in my office today chatting with an alumnus, someone was visiting with a screaming baby right outside of my office. I kept thinking "they couldn't possibly have already released the new baby, right?" I couldn't focus on the conversation because of the screaming and that IF instinct to hide from all babies.
Suddenly I flashed back to my dream from last night that I had completely forgotten. I was teaching a class in a tiered lecture hall. There were probably 70 or so students filling the room. I walked into the room, looked out at the class and there, in the front row, was a student holding an infant. I thought "well, that's odd."
Then, I looked up and, two rows back, there was another student holding a toddler who was trying to squirm out of her arms.
Then, in the back row, there was another student nursing a newborn.
I thought "oh, I forgot that we let people come to class with their babies, now. How the hell is this going to work? This kind of sucks."
Then, I suddenly remembered that I was in the classroom for my 11:30 class (as were all of my 11:30 students) despite the fact that it was 8:30 and I was supposed to be teaching another class across campus (in reality it is across a parking lot, but in the dream it was miles away) and I had to run to the class and was crazy stressed to get there.
Those of you who are teachers out there will totally recognize this type of dream (although, adding the babies into the mix was a new one for me and just shows where my mind really is right now). I remember realizing that I'd "officially" become a teacher when I stopped having stress dreams that involved showing up late to a class/forgetting a class/not studying for a test, etc. as a student and started having dreams where I forgot to teach a class/showed up late for class/spent an entire class screaming at the top of my lungs trying to get people to pay attention to me/forgot to plan anything for lecture/made it through a whole semester without going to a class and wondered how no one seemed to notice, etc. as a teacher.
But, seriously, are my stress dreams now going to involve teaching and babies? Yeesh.
Oh, man, I hate stress dreams!! It's like you didn't even sleep!
ReplyDeleteI always wake up from stress dreams so exhausted, they are the worst!
ReplyDeletehappy iclw!
#150
Oh that is the mother of all stress dreams! My recurring "back to school" stress dream used to involve showing up to school late, to find the kids had completely trashed the classroom and broken all the crayons. Heh.
ReplyDeleteWow, you just can't catch a break can you? Hope you're able to sleep dreamlessly tonight!
ReplyDeleteAck! I have the same kinds of dreams. Man, can't our subconscious take it easy on us and address one neuroses at a time?
ReplyDeleteHaving gone from student to teacher, back to student, and now back to teacher again...I hear you! In a lot of my stress dreams, I also end up topless. And often saying to myself in the dream: "now, I know I've had dreams like this before, but this time, it's for real." Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteStress dreams are the worst! I'm an accountant, and my stress dreams involve attacking spreadsheets... Now if you add attacking babies to the spreadsheets - that would be a nightmare!!!
ReplyDeletestopping by from ICLW. hello! i'm so sorry about your miscarriage and hoping you find a quick path back to a healthy happy pregnancy. also.. im glad to know i'm not the only one who has stress dreams with babies in them. mine are still mostly about babies.. babies not wanting to be held by me, my baby being a bit deformed, and talking babies that are too young to talk. creepy! i did recently have a really good dream about my baby and i got to hold him/her and i remember feeling what it was like and it was amazing.. hope your dreams come true soon.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that babies made an apperance in your stress dream!
ReplyDeleteUgh! That's a bad combo....hope the rest of you day is less stressful.
ReplyDeleteOh that just blows. I'm sorry that your stress dream has become more stressful, and I hope that this was an anomaly and that your subconscious goes back to its regularly scheduled programs for early semester anxieties.
ReplyDeleteGOod luck with the start of the term!