The Niceness Nightmare “I had a nightmare last night,” Amber told her friend Marisa as the two girls sat down on opposite ends of Amber's bed.

“What happened?” Marisa asked, concerned.

“I dreamed that everyone in my family was being super nice to me,” Amber replied.

“I guess I'm confused, because...I don't see what's so bad about that,” Marisa said.

“I know,” said Amber, “but I promise you’ll understand soon. So, you know how my mom ignores me when I complain about Ben, and how she always reminds me that he's my little brother and I have to be patient with him?”

Marisa nodded, and Amber continued. “Well, in my dream, Mom told me that she would actually listen to me and help me deal with Ben. So I told her how he's rude to me all the time. And she said she was sorry for ignoring me, and that she'd make Ben stop bothering me.”

Marisa looked puzzled. “Still sounds like a good dream to me,” she said.

“Well,” Amber continued, “Then Ben came into my room and said that Mom had told him everything. He said he felt bad about being rude and that he was going to be the best brother in the world from then on.”

“That's kind of sweet!” Marisa responded.

“It got horrible right after that,” said Amber. “Mom and Ben started hanging around me all the time! They wouldn't leave me alone. Mom kept begging me to tell her all of my problems, not just the ones about Ben. And Ben kept doing all these nice things for me. He sharpened all my pencils, put my books in alphabetical order, and brought me water in case I was thirsty. It got so annoying that I begged him to go away, but he just wouldn't leave me alone!”

“Okay, I think I get it now,” said Marisa. “All of the niceness ended up driving you crazy!”

“Exactly,” said Amber. “And you know what? I think I'll actually be glad when Ben says something rude at dinner tonight—and I'll feel even better when my mom ignores it!”