A nightmare and the boy who called wolf

A while back, my son was crying and crying at night.  He said he had a nightmare.  My husband and I looked at each other and said, "how is that possible, he never went to sleep!"

My son kept telling us he had a nightmare, so he should sleep in Mommy and Daddy's bed.  My husband looked at me and said, "what should we do?"  I told him to tell our son the story of the little boy who cried "Wolf".  I could tell my husband hadn't told the story before, if ever at all.  It had his own unique features to it.  My son got the message.  After the story was told, my son said, "No, I didn't have a nightmare- I just wanted to sleep in your bed..."  I told him, "thank you for your honesty and because of your honesty, tonight you can sleep our bed."  From time to time, we have to remind him of the little boy who called wolf, but I'm glad at three years of age he is beginning to see the advantage of telling the truth.  If only the logic of truth-telling was so obvious to all adults too...
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