The Nightmare Continues

Well, it turns out, Sophie's nightmares are becoming a bigger problem than first thought. After her initial one that involved the lady hitting her and the wolves chasing her, she has been very hesitant to go to sleep. She keeps telling me when I tuck her in that she doesn't want to go to sleep because she doesn't want to have a bad dream. When I have mentioned the dream catcher above her bed, she frustratedly declares that it is not working. Last night, I set up a "dream date" with her before she went to sleep and I told her I would see her in her dreams. She was very happy with that idea and snuggled into bed with a beaming smile on her face. Then 3:30am happened....

I woke up and heard Sophie sobbing her little heart out. I raced into her room and sure enough, she had had another nightmare about the wolves chasing her. I decided to stay in her bed for the rest of the night and comfort her...any talk about it could wait until morning. I assured her she was safe, that I will look after her and I cuddled her in tight...she was actually shaking because she was so scared! A little while later, after she was settled but very much awake, she hopped up to go to the toilet. Unfortunately, at this very moment, my Brother-in-Law (who had stayed over after watching the State of Origin last night...go Queensland!!!) woke up for work. I could hear him stumbling around in the dark, feeling the walls as he tried to find his way, struggling to put his shoes on and generally making quite a racket. Poor Sophie had no idea her Uncle had stayed over and when he turned on the light on his phone, she was scared stiff. She was still on the toilet and sat there frozen and terrified. I called out reassuringly that it was only her Uncle and after a bit of convincing, she came back to her bed from the the toilet. She then told me that she thought it was a Dinosaur when the torch came on. She then went on to tell me that some Dinosaurs have torches...I asked if she meant the Angler Fish with the light on it's head but she was adamant that it was definitely Dinosaurs. Who am I to argue at that time of morning?!?

Thankfully, Sophie did finally drift off back to sleep after I assured her I would stay with her for the rest of the night. Then, at about 6 o'clock, just after I had managed to fall asleep, Elliott decided it was time to start the day. Poor little thing looks like quite a mess after his injury prone day yesterday. It all started with him standing on a dining room chair and it falling backwards. Thank God he just got a fright and no injuries. Then, when I was doing Sophie's hair down the other end of the house, Elliott took the opportunity to go back for another round with the dining room chair. This time, the dining room chair was victorious again...Elliott banged his chin on the table as he went down and bit his tongue, hardcore. There was blood everywhere, but I didn't discover it until it was seeping into my shirt as I was cuddling him. Gross. Poor little fella is no sporting a bruised chin and two track mark cuts on his tongue from his teeth. 

The day continued with many more injury related incidents, but thankfully they were on a much smaller scale. There was no more blood or bruising until the evening when I went out to get the mail. Heaven forbid I could do something that quick and simple on my own...Elliott was leaning on the front door howling his head off. His caring big sister came the the rescue and just was I was approaching the front door, she opened it for Elliott. That would have been fine if he wasn't leaning on it. sure enough, he tumbles out of the front door, face first onto the concrete. grazing between his eyebrows and his nose. Good grief!

Hopefully today will prove to be much more fortunate for both the kids! It seems my only solution with Elliott is to buy him a helmet and some bubble wrap, but for Sophie, I have no idea. Please, please, please, if anyone has any tips on dealing with nightmares, I would love to hear them. Thank you guys!!! xox