nightmares and ghost stories

My littles have nightmares once in a while.  It's not what you think.  No masked men chasing them, or anything an adult would find terrifying.  Rowan recently woke up screaming, "Give me back my popsicle!  No, no! It's mine!!"  The biggest problem is introducing them into reality and getting them to shake off what happened in the dream. 

One morning I heard Fletcher jump out of bed and run full force down the hallway to the family room.  Then he came into our room crying.  Apparently, in his dreams, it was Christmas.  So he was expecting the presents and toys left by Santa.  Oh, that was a hard morning, let me tell you. 

Rowan woke up in the middle of the night crying earlier this week.  When I went into her room, her arms were stretched as high as they would go, up the wall.  She was crying, "Jesus is coming down!"  Now some of you might see this as an apocolyptic/rapture dream, but since we are Catholics, I knew she meant the crucifix in her room.  I had to show her that Jesus was still firmly attached to the wall (a different wall all together) and she went happily back to sleep. The apocolyptic implications didn't even occur to me until morning, ha!

And then there are the ghosts.  I don't actually think we live in a haunted house.  No.  If I believed that we probably wouldn't live here anymore because I get the heeby-jeebies very easily.  But.  Ever since Fletcher could talk, he has told us some creeeepy things.  When we moved here, he talked about the little boy crying in his room.  I think he's talking about himself (I hope) but who knows?  I kept asking why the little boy was crying, and he told me that the little boy's mama left (like I do after he gets tucked into bed).  And then there's the one that's not easily explained.  He talks about the man who wears a hat with a feather and who tells him the story of the three ships that sailed out of sight (shudder). 

And then Rowan.  She will wake up in the middle of the night and have one sided conversations.  Like, "Hi, I'm Rowan!"  And, "Well, we live here too!"  And, "Yes!  Mama and Papa are in their bed!"  Gah.  Don't tell them where I am, Rowan!!!!  Seriously, I think she's just practicing talking and conversing, and I think she would be scared if someone was in her bedroom, not chatty. 

It all started back when we lived in our house in Illinois.  It was built in 1865, so of course it crossed my mind that it *might* be just a wee bit haunted.  And then Fletcher started talking, and pointing to the corner in his room telling me, "Scared me!"  Yikes.  Now I just think that their dreams bleed over into their first waking hours, not that ghosts are visiting.  But I'll let you decide for sure.

Do you have any nightmare/ghost stories to share?  Tis' the season! I love hearing other people's stories, I just prefer them not to happen to me.