Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher

courtesy of brucecoville.com

Dan was supposed to be in bed sleeping, but he stayed up and secretly finished off the book he's been reading (Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville). We found him out because at 9:30, he came downstairs, tugged on my sleeve, and motioned for me to follow him back up. Could Daddy go? No, it had to be me.

So he led me back to his room, and as he climbed up into bed, he pointed at the book on the floor. My first reaction was exasperation: "Grrrr. Dan! Did you stay up to finish the book?"
He nodded sorrowfully (guiltily, I thought), and as I started griping about how he needed to go to sleep earlier, he dove into the covers and buried his face in his pillow. Then he started sniffling.

I peered down at him. He peered back at me. Tears.

Oh, dear.

Turns out the dragon had to leave Jeremy and go back to where it came from, and the trauma of separation was too much for my sweet little boy to handle, even though Jeremy and his dragon are spiritually reunited in the epilogue. Please could I lie down with him until he fell asleep? Sniff, sniff.

How could I say no?

Must remember the weeping so that I don't freak out when he says stuff like, "I'd rather be a regular soldier than a medic. Because soldiers get to shoot people, and medics can only use guns in self-defense."