Dreaming of...Car Talk?

Jim's Three-Year Old Dreams of the Car Doctor

Dear Tom and Ray,

My 3 year old little girl is obsessed with being a car mechanic (and I do not use the term obsess lightly) She dreams about it at night...the Magic school bus (on TV) broke down the other day, and she almost freaked as they took a tour through the fuel system.

We started calling our ex-mechanic, Bob, the car doctor or Dr. Bob. Her alter ego is now Dr. Bob this, and Dr. Bob that. She dreams about Dr. Bob. This is cute...but is it harmful?

Jim W.

Read the expert's analysis

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Dear Jim,

You know, many native American tribes pay close attention to children's dreams because they believe they contain clues to a child's true destiny. So who knows: maybe your little girl is, indeed, having a flash-forward of a future career. Car-doctoring is a noble, indispensible profession.

On the other hand, your daughter has a strong desire to fix things that are broken. So, substitute ambulance for tow truck, garage for hospital, and voila:it's just possible you have an E.R. doc in the making--though you might want to teach her the difference between a pliers and a forceps.