I dreamed I was rubbing shards of glass on my toddler’s scalp as if it were a routine we did every morning, like brushing her hair. It was so weird. In the dream, she wasn’t in pain or anything, but her scalp was definitely bleeding while I rammed the shards of glass into her head. It wasn’t weird for either of us in the dream. But when I woke up, I was like, “That was traumatic.” What does this mean?
— Courtney, British Columbia, Canada

From Lauri: Fear not — Child Protective Services won’t be knocking on your door! In fact, this dream actually suggests you have some good parenting going on here. Have you had to do any tough love on her recently, trying to get her to understand something even though it may break your heart to do so? Rubbing the glass into her scalp means you are trying to get something into her little noggin. The broken glass is your broken heart, or perhaps your concern, that discipline may break her spirit. The lack of pain in the dream is your subconscious showing you that you are not doing her any harm by teaching her consequences.