"My Son's Principal" comments and conclusions.

I love when there is such great feed back!!

So I asked, "Anybody have any ideas?"
(I'm posting these because people often don't read comments, and because these have really hit home with me. Often I'll know I'm supposed to get something out of dream, but I just can't. Throwing it out to the world often allows God to use others to help. My mind has been in such a fog lately that I couldn't figure this out on my own.)
Dreams are typically personal, and are typically about something you are dealing with right then and there. In my life right now I'm dealing with a possible move that is all centered around my son's acceptance into a certain school. My son has always been the odd man out in school. He has been bullied since 2nd grade. He has been the loner, the anti-social one, the socially awkward one, the very smart one who gets all A's but then stops doing work and gets F's. It's been a rough road to say the least. Two weeks ago he auditioned for a Performing and Fine Arts school in a town 20 minutes away. We are supposed to find out soon whether or not he made it. I have been struggling for years with my son's happiness. I feel very responsible for him as all mothers do. I am hoping in an atypical school setting he will shine.
On top of this we have not had good luck house hunting in the area. We finally "settled" for a house I didn't like much, and I had told myself if he gets into the school, I'll live with that house just because it's close. But just today I handed in the cancellation papers backing out of the house because I lacked peace about it.
So, with all of that said, I'd like to share some comments I got:

(From Dani) My thoughts...I wonder though, if my reading this dream is part of its purpose, some is for me and my situation. Thanks for sharing! ... So here goes. I think this represents concern over the disparity between your expectations regarding the needs/direction of T's education and those of the education system, school, or staff. (murky like the river or a unfamiliar protocol like the line at school) You may feel that T is narrowly understood by the school/principal. In one dream the principal pointed out something that he felt was a problem, but that you did not perceive in the same way. In the other dream you communicated a need/lack of familiarity and he did not address the issue...he left. The menial tasks of motherhood and adult life (cleaning up...) take your time and attention away from attaining the details of the situation and perceiving the whole picture. You want to be able to trust the gate keepers at the school to recognize T's needs and strengths, if/when there is something to be concerned about, and when to celebrate a gifting...but there is a sense of vulnerability regarding this and you may feel tentative about trusting the input of the school. I think that the exposure of you, your home, and the tie to your childhood memories is connected to your personal investment in your child and the knowledge that this is being assessed in a somewhat calculated and linear way. Remember that sometimes what someone else sees as a 'problem' (flooding, the toppling books) may actually be a good thing (the water was clear, a story to share.) The scope of the principal's perception was very limited, take joy in the beauty and clarity of the river and the story to share with others.

(From Gary)I have never read any of your dream journals until now.. and if you don't mind..I would like to give you my thoughts on this one.. a look from a different perspective..

I see this as the worries you are having to do for the big move, packing and going through things throwing stuff away, having to decide what to keep and what to give away, what to sell, what to donate..ect..as for being in your night shirt.. that is the feeling of being in a "vulnerable" state, due to the feelings of "it is all on your shoulders to handle all this stuff" as you mentioned in your journal many different parts that would make someone feel this way.. ie, getting dropped off at a different place..not knowing the rules. The flooding is from the feeling of being "overwhelmed"

As far as Mr. Santin.. I see this as someone you are looking to/for that is an authority figure that you can trust with all the right answers to help you out and tell you how to do the move and point you in the right direction with all these unanswered questions, concerns and worries you have.. hence telling you what's wrong..(house) what you need to do..(school) and by you approaching him in your dream is why the river was murky and then now is crystal clear, because you just realize that "it is OK" to ask someone for help.

as far as the books, tapes, supplies, closet, finding old stuff, finding new stuff, cart over flowing, that is from all the things you know you are going to experience and deal with from your move. How often did you move as a child..? Think about it..

the procrastination you've been doing all week comes with the guilt you are feeling from doing so, and you are not doing good with the guilt, because it is not like you..

I could go on.. but I am tired of typing..lol I hope this might shed some light on things or maybe not..

After reading both comments and knowing my situation I think they all fit, but a little more like this:
The river, right now, is murky... (It's a decision that is only for our family {back yard}, and it's very unclear... the move and which house to choose). Perhaps being vulnerable/asking for help (I'll take your prayers please) about the decision will clear things up.
My son is the "principle" reason we are moving. His school is the deciding factor. All of things Dani said about how I feel about his present school are true, and I worry that those same issues will be around at a normal junior high if he doesn't get into the Arts school. I feel like I'm just picking up "trash" all the time with the schools we've been a part of so far (beyond just "my class"). The Arts school he may go to requires 40 hours (at least) of parent participation; I look forward to that being an artist myself. I will get to share things I love with them.

Thanks again for the feedback!

My Son's Principal

In the past two nights I have had dreams involving my son's principal - Mr. Santin. (The kids often refer to him as Mr. Satan, but he is a good guy, just firm.) I'm having a hard time figuring the dreams out... so I thought I'd put them out there and see if writing helps, or if perhaps any of you have any insight.

Yesterday's dream was of me picking up around the living room in my night shirt while Mr. Santin was working on my yard. My son was with me in the living room and when I noticed Mr. Santin outside I said to my son, "Mr. Santin is outside. Should I go talk to him? Do you think I'll be OK in just this shirt?" He didn't answer but I went ahead and walked to the sliding glass door and opened it. (The house we were in was like one that I lived in when I was a teenager mixed with my great Granny's house.) I stood in the door way and Mr. Santin came over to me. He pointed at a puddle on the cement block outside the door. "You've got some flooding," he said. I looked down and just past the cement stoop was a river that flowed through my back yard. It was not a shock to me. I actually was very happy to see the river because it was clear as crystal. In my memory I saw the river as murky and yellowy-brown, but just then it was beautiful. I could see all the way to the floor of the river; there were stones and plants lining the different levels of the river's floor. I just stood there and marveled at it, and that was the end of the dream.

In last night's dream I was going to school. I walked through a neighborhood that I have been in before in my dream world, but not in real life. (It most resembles the town of Williamston NC where I lived when I was 8, but it also has a Boston vibe.) Anyway, once I got to school I lined up with the rest of the kids on a black top next to a field. Mr. Santin and a lady teacher came out to take us to class. I started walking with the other kids but then Mr. Santin stopped me with a mean look and asked, "where are you going?" I pointed forward and he said, "Don't you know the rules? It's your turn to pick up trash." I explained how I had always been dropped off on the other side of school where the cars go until today, and it was my first time in the line. The rest of the class and Mr. Santin walked away and left me out on the field to pick up trash. I knew that I was only responsible for my class's trash which was right around where we had been standing (homework wadded up, food wrappers and scraps of food), but I went ahead and took all the time I wanted picking up all the trash around the black top and the field. When I finally wanted to stop I walked to the teacher's lounge where I knew I was supposed to get a rolling stand and some art supplies. The stand was taller than me, like the ones that TVs used to sit on top of so that the whole class could see. (When I was in elementary school the TV was on a rolling stand like that and it went from class to class because there was only one TV for everyone to share.) As I was getting the stand already loaded with the supplies I needed, I looked in a storage closet and found all kinds of 'Ramona and Beezus' tapes and books. (I never read those when I was little, but in my dream I was very excited to find them, like they had been my favorite.) They were pink and there were so many that when I stacked them on the rolling stand they kept falling off. The dream ended with me picking up the falling books over and over.

So... a meaning...
Let's break it down.
In both dreams I'm "picking up". #1 in my own living room, #2 on a school campus. Both dreams have Mr. Santin pointing out a problem to me: #1 the flooding, #2 my turn to pick up trash.

Dream #1's other things that could be symbolic: (I'll put *'s by things that seemed important)
**Me in my night shirt, and well aware of my lower half being exposed.
**Mr. Santin (as my son's principle)
*flooding
***river ... murky and then clear
*back yard: not something that everyone sees... personal.

Dream #2's other things that could be symbolic:
childhood neighborhood
*school (elementary at that)
*being new to the line (new to the rules)
**trash (school kid trash)
***taking my time... and doing more than I was supposed to... to stall.
*rolling stand/cart (again from elementary school memories)
storage closet (another thing that not everyone sees)
***tapes and books from childhood (good childhood memories, though not accurate), that I was excited to share.
overflow (unable to keep everything on the cart)

Both dreams had a climax. #1 seeing the clear river. #2 wanting to share the books and tapes.
The climax over-rode everything in the dream up until that point, and both dreams ended on the high note.
In dream #1 I had been living with a murky river in my back yard for who knows how long, but somehow going out 'exposed' to see my son's principle allowed the water to be clear. The problem of flooding was a non issue.
(I sure hope this doesn't have to do with the house I just turned down near my son's possible new school because it had some flooding issues and a bad pool.)(Maybe it's about his grades, or some principle about my son that will make things clear.)

Dream #2 seems to focus on me taking my time, even doing things I'm not supposed to be doing, and how ultimately it led to finding a treasure that I could share. (I'd like to think thats a good sign for the procrastination I've been having all week, but I'm pretty sure that's just wishful thinking.)(Perhaps it's about dealing with my son's school {new or old} looking at the 'trash', and at the tresures involved.)

Anybody have any ideas?