Nightmares

Poor Ali Baba had a fever yesterday. Not a really bad one, but bad enough he didn’t each much and slept most of the day. Last night was bad. Though it felt like his temperature had broken, the poor lad was restless and woke up a few times. Then he drifted into a dark sleep full of nightmares.

I went into find him at one point sitting up in his bed, shaking. His eyes were open but unfocused. He wasn’t talking, but let me cuddle and talk to him. Something got through because he did utter a stark “They’re trying to eat me,” before I finally got him relaxed and settled back in the bed. That hit one more time before the night was out.

Thankfully he was chipper and happy in the morning, though clearly tired. He didn’t seem to remember his nightmares, which is likely a good thing. If he was tired, LL and I were shattered. Neither of us has much in the way of energy reserves at the moment and a broken night just leaves you floored.

It makes me wonder about nightmares though. In general Ali Baba doesn’t seem to suffer them. This one was noticeable in its intensity. He was clearly lost in something horrific.

Pirate Pete, on the other hand, goes through phases of regular nightmares. Happens every couple of months where he’ll have a week or two of a nightmare every night. Usually happens between 11-12 o’clock. From the bits he mumbles in the middle of them, they appear to be fairly simple, his brother beating him up, one of us angry. It clearly his young psyche working something out. Still, its odd that they happen in waves.

This post has no real point other than a general musing on childhood nightmares. I don’t suffer from them much, never have other than a small handful of real doozies. Its just interesting how they hit and how they differ between children. It does raise a question for you parents out there. Do you comfort your children, try to wake them up, or let them sleep it through?