My 5-year-old dreamed that he was on the deck with a friend and they noticed a horrible black cloud and they knew it meant danger. They had to jump on the "CONCREEP" and then he woke up, and came and got in the bed with me. — Melissa 38, Minneapolis, MN

Lauri: Aw! You gotta love kid language, huh? Did your son get in trouble the day before the dream? The dark, ominous cloud may represent—to him—a foreboding authority figure because the cloud, like a parent, is above him. And if he did get in said trouble, is it because he was doing something that was deemed dangerous?

Melissa replies: He had to get out of the pool yesterday because he couldn’t follow pool rules. He had to watch his brother continue to swim without him! Maybe I did have an impact?

Lauri replies: You did, you big black cloud of parental authority! And that is why he had to get on the concrete in the dream, because in real life he had to get out of the pool and stay on the concrete. Just goes to show you that when you think your kids aren’t listening, what you say does seep through.