Dream Analysis: Babysitting

I have not done one of these in a long while on my blog, not because I haven’t had any dreams, but more so because my dreams were speaking to me in ways that were more private, but I thought I would share this dream, as it might shed some light for others about dreams they’ve had.

I will first give a description of the dream, and then analyze some of the symbols in it, and end with a summary of what I believe this dream is talking about.

I titled this dream: "Babysitting."

 

 

Babysitting

I am employed to take care of a small baby and when I turn up to work, I find a house full of children that I feel are some way related to me. The house is ruled by a drunken slob of a man who is filthy, angry, violent and abusive/manipulative. I feel dirty when he looks at me. I sense that his interest in me has more to do with something sleazy than in my skills as a babysitter or my worth as a person.

I soon befriend the eldest child of the family, a girl named Mary-Ann. I find it remarkable that I don’t see any evidence of a mother.

I spend most of my time, carrying the baby (a boy) around in my arms, trying to encourage him to smile or play. He is very solemn, very thin and looks malnourished but he doesn’t ever cry. I decide that the baby is tired and needs a place to rest. Mary-Ann offers to show me a place where he can sleep. I follow her out of the house. The place I take the baby to is away from the house that he lives in. It is clean and airy, with a cheerful nursery. I bed him down with help from another, older girl who I understand is the baby’s sister.

While I am putting the baby to bed, another young couple with a baby come in and tell me to take my baby out of the bed I put him in. "He sleeps in the bouncer."

I move him from the comfortable crib and the young couple put their baby girl into it. The baby boy doesn’t seem perturbed by the shift into a smaller bed, and settles down happily. While I am settling the baby once again, Mary-Ann appears at my side.

"You’ve got to come," she says. "He says if you don’t come, he’s going to kill the baby."

I feel upset by this, not wanting to return to the oppressive surroundings that the baby lives in. I leave the ‘nursery’ with Mary-Ann and we step into the street. Mary-Ann runs off, out of sight, and I realize I am lost. As I walk around looking for the house where I am employed, I keep thinking.

"They want to put a collar on me do they? They want me to bow down and play nice for them, do they?"

My thoughts are very defiant, but at the same time, I worry that I won’t get back to the house quickly enough and that the man will hurt the baby.  

Suddenly, I realize the baby is not at the house, so I am a little less worried. I walk into a house which I think is the one I work at, but it is not. The man who lives there tells me that a taxi can get me to "George’s" house. I think that’s a good idea and find a yellow cab awaiting me. I get inside and describe the man I was working for.

The driver seems to know him, also calling him "George" he drives me to an unfamiliar building which is not a house, but a baker’s shop. When I question this, he says "This is George’s place. He has the two floors above the shop." I know it’s not the place, but I pay the cabby his fare and start to walk along the street looking for my place of work.

As I am walking along the street, I meet a friend. I realize this street urchin is my online friend, Haggy and we walk along together, my job and the baby forgotten as we sing a song about London.

We browse through shops, both of us dressed like urchins, akin to something out of Oliver Twist. We keep being thrown out of the shops because we look odd, and smell bad.

Eventually,we go into a thrift shop that has two cats sitting on shelves of merchandise and a lady who serves us without seeming to notice our mode of dress, or the fact that we smell (according to other shop keepers we’d encountered).

 

 

Symbols:

The first symbols in this dream are the fact that I am a babysitter/nanny, and the children I am caring for. Dreaming that I am a babysitter speaks of a need to take care of my own inner child. Immediately on arrival at my new place of work, I find several children, one of them a starving baby boy, and the other a girl whom I befriend. I see other children around the house, and feel a sense that I am related to them all. So all of these children are aspects of my own, inner self and I am here to care for them. The first message of this dream is look! Care for the inner child/ren.

The next symbol is the man who seems to be in charge of these kids. He is not their father. At least, I don’t sense that he is in the dream. He is more of an overseer. This speaks to me of control and restrictions, someone, or something (a thought pattern perhaps) that is inhibiting me, holding me back, and making me feel unclean, or untrue to myself. This symbol tells me "something you’ve been thinking, or doing, or trying to live up to, is endangering your inner self." He is an older man, so this might relate to old patterns of thinking from my past.

I remark that the children don’t seem to have a mother. This again, is speaking to a lack of nurturance and care for the inner self. No one is here to love and protect these children the way that they should be loved and protected.

I am carrying the baby boy everywhere with me in the dream, trying to break through his sadness and depression and make him smile. He is malnourished and sad, signifying my dependence on others and the need to find immediate attention and care to satisfy some inner hunger and lack. I befriend Mary-Ann an older sibling of the baby who seems very protective and caring for him. This speaks again of my desire to help this poor, undernourished aspect of myself.

Mary-Ann and I take the baby to a clean, safe place with a pretty nursery and put him down to sleep in a comfy bed, which he is almost immediately moved from, into a small ‘bouncer.’ He seems happy there and falls asleep. This speaks to me of how I have changed my thinking from repressive/oppresive old ways, to new ways that are less restrictive. They are different to the old ways, but still satisfying and my inner self can settle and be at peace here.

Mary-Ann returns and tells me that the man from the house wants me to come back. I don’t want to go to the house, but feel I should for the sake of the baby. My thoughts about it are rebellious and defiant, even though I outwardly comply (boy do I know what that’s about!) "If you don’t come back, he will kill the baby…" This is a threat to my inner self. One I have heard in my waking life. such as "Conform or go to hell," (rings a bell to me when I wake up).

I then realize that the baby is safe where he is, and although I keep trying for a little while, to find my employer’s house, it doesn’t seem

as important to me anymore. (again, I see this directly reflected in my waking life over the past few months)

I find a house that looks like the one I am looking for, but it is not right. (another reference to something in my waking life in recent months).

I’m told that a taxi can get me to my place of employment, and I take a cab, but, again, it brings me to the wrong destination. (yet another reference to stuff in my waking life recently)

Finally, I give up looking for the house I was employed at, and I walk along the road, until I meet with a friend. We’re both dressed as vagabonds/hobos, and we continue our journey together. This friend, again is not really my waking life friend, but another aspect of my inner self. We go window shopping.

Window shopping in dreams, indicates a search for something which is lacking in the dreamer’s life. We get turned away from several shops because we look, and smell unacceptable. (still more references to my recent search for acceptance in spiritual places).

Finally, we enter a thrift shop with two cats and a lady who serves us without commenting on our appearance or smell.

The thrift shop reminds me that there is still value in some of the things of the past. Cats in dreams speak of empowerment, creativity and independence of spirit. The lady’s acceptance speaks to finding a place where all is well, I am accepted, empowered and able to function creatively without any criticism.

 

Analysis

This dream, is talking about my recent spiritual search.

It starts off by reminding me of my need to care for my inner self, the vulnerable and softer parts of my nature that require nurturing and nourishing in order to thrive. The dream tells me that I have recognized this need, and have removed myself from a place that was stifling, oppressive, and threatening to destroy my inner self, to a place of light, freedom, air and rest.

It reminds me of the path I have walked to get there, and speaks of further journeyings to come, but it tells me that although the journey might have times when people don’t understand, and turn me aside, or reject me, if I continue on this path, keeping my sights on the light, and keeping my heart free from the burden of conformity (no collars for me!). Then I will come to a place of acceptance where my spirit will be empowered to work creatively in an atmosphere of complete acceptance. It’s also reminding me to keep hold of some things from the past that retain their value (thrift shop).