There’s no such thing as a dragon… a problem… a…

“I don’t mind dragons THIS size,” said Mother. “Why did it grow so BIG?”
I’m not sure,” said Billy, “but I think it just wanted to be noticed.”

There’s no such thing as a dragon…tell this to my childhood trauma and my adult PTSD. Still, question the books my therapist recommends, but know, I don’t question her. She’s amazing.

I can see why she went down this road, but I think she’s still getting to know my brain. Don’t worry MB, I’m also still getting to know my brain.

The book this week is There’s No Such Thing as a Dragon by Jack Kent. Another book from the 1970s… hmmm, sensing a theme here.

Let’s paraphrase

Billy Bixbee wakes up one morning to a dragon the size of a kitten in his bedroom. He tells his mother, but she says, “Billy, there’s no such thing as a dragon.”

Billy trusts his mother. So he ignores the dragon he clearly sees. As they both pay the dragon no mind, it grows and grows.

At first, it was just a small problem, eating Billy’s pancakes. But then it eventually started to get in the way of day-to-day things like cleaning the house, brushing teeth, and getting ready for bed.

Eventually, the dragon was so big, it took over the entire house and the Bixbee family lost control of their home. It ended up on the other side of the neighborhood because the dragon carried their home on his back when chasing after a bakery truck.

Finally, when Billy’s dad came home and asked what happen, his mother was able to listen to Billy, and see the dragon for what it was, real, and really big now.

As soon as they acknowledged the dragon, it immediately became kitten-sized again.

“I don’t mind dragons THIS size,” said Mother. “Why did it grow so BIG?”
I’m not sure,” said Billy, “but I think it just wanted to be noticed.”

A few of my thoughts…

• I’m going to need to draw the line on the kid’s books I think.
• While I appreciate them, I’m finding them infantilizing. My brain is too complex.
• I still get something out of them, but I might be overanalyzing them. This one had multiple meanings and some of them were not positive — like “gaslighting.”
• Younger Jennie wouldn’t have liked these either.
• My dragons are scary, not akin to kittens.

Ramblings

I don’t think the meaning behind this story is beyond anyone: If we ignore small problems, they eventually get bigger.

They can take over our lift, interrupt our day-to-day tasks, and even take over our entire home.

Sometimes if we just acknowledge they are there, they become easier to manage.

But my dragons (problems) were scary. They were not kitten-sized cute dragons that if you just pat, would contain themselves.

But my “problem” was big, mean, and frightening. It convinced me I would die if I didn’t make it happy. It constantly followed me, tortured me, and threatened me.

Yes, my mother and father both ignored it. Told me it didn’t exist. Everyone, in fact, who knew, told me there was no such thing as a dragon. Today we call this gaslighting.

As an adult, I ran into another dragon, even bigger and scarier. My friends, family, church members, and even the police told me it didn’t exist. So while I lived with a terrifying, fire-breathing dragon, they got to stay in the safety of their own lives.

Don’t ignore the dragons. Don’t ignore your kids, family members, or friends when they say they see dragons. Just because YOU don’t believe in dragons, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

Thanks for reading.

❤️