Last week I took my 5-year-old to go and see a production of Fiddler on the Roof. He loves theater performances, especially musicals, and when there was a one-song preview during the last performance we watched, he begged me to take him. He’s listened to the soundtrack at least once a day for the last several months. He now knows all of the songs, and we discussed the plot extensively before attending.

I was not prepared when we came home that night and he started having nightmares about pogroms. While Fiddler doesn’t touch on the deaths of so many Jews during these atrocities, the idea of people being unwillingly driven from their homes was scary enough for the sensitive soul of my son. And while we had talked about the forced evacuation of the town’s Jews as we listened to the music before attending, it was seeing it happening upon the stage that brought the meaning to life for him.

My child is an empath; he feels acutely the pain of others. Now he wants to travel to Russia and “stop the soldiers from being so mean.” We talked about how this took place long ago, but he wants to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Really, it’s beautiful.

Except for the nightmares. Part of having such a big heart and vivid imagination is having dreams that can be extremely scary. As my son processes the injustices in the world, he has terrifying nightmares.

In a quest to help him feel more in control of his dreams, and to help him feel safer at night, I decided to help him make a Dreamcatcher.

The Dreamcatcher legend, of Ojibwa origin, tells of Grandmother Spider spinning a web that will catch the bad dreams and only allow the good dreams to pass into our minds. Then when the sun rises, the bad dreams disappear, like the dew from a spider’s web.

I didn’t have the traditional materials of willow for the outer edge, and handmade cordage from local plants to make the webbing, but we made do with what we had. I used fiber-covered wire to shape the outer circle, and then my son used his favorite rainbow yarn to weave the web that would catch the dreams. He then used some pretty ribbon to hang leaf-shaped buttons from the bottom.

Last night, it caught his bad dreams. I hope it continues to bring him peace as he sleeps.

We made our dreamcatcher with items we had around the house.  If you want to make your own and don’t have the necessary supplies, you can find a kit HERE.