The one where the nightmare quest continues...

So the nightmare quest continues. I really wasn't trying Thursday night to cause nightmares. For one thing, the kids would be getting home late and for another, frankly, I'd run out of ideas for the moment. But due to a snafu or miscommunication between Hubby and I, he and I didn't end up eating dinner until about 9 that night. Leftover pork chops and corn on the cob. And guess what? No, I didn't have a nightmare, but I did have a bad dream. What's the difference Spot? I hear you asking me. I consider a nightmare to be one where you are absolutely terrified. You wake up disoriented, panicked, heart pounding, clammy sweat, your body poised for fight or flight. That is a nightmare. And I haven't had one in months. A bad dream is simply scary while you're in it, but you wake up with the full realization that it was a dream. And roll over and go back to sleep.

I had a bad dream. A weird bad dream, no less. I was around thirteen. I lived in a huge house with my parents (who oddly enough, were my actual parents, though younger than they are now), and a lot of little brothers and sisters. (which is weird because I only have one sister). Anyway, the parents had a friend over, a male (not someone from my real life, total stranger). He was obviously a close friend of my parents but I got a totally creepy vibe from him and didn't want to be around him. So I left the room they were in watching TV and started down a long hallway. The friend followed me. Then he started making suggestive comments and threats about how he was going to come back when everyone was asleep. I was very scared in the dream! As soon as he left I locked the door, and then ran through the house locking windows and doors. The house got bigger and bigger and more maze like and I was frantically trying to get everything locked up to protect myself and my siblings, knowing I was only seconds ahead of this guy every time (because I could see his face looking in the windows), and that he was getting increasingly angrier with every lock he encountered. And then I woke up, shrugged and went back to sleep. I'm sure a psychiatrist would have a field day with this one! But I'm blaming the pork chops.

Dreaming is a funny thing isn't it? I know some people say that they can have lucid dreams where they control what's happening. I have never had one of those. I do have a weird recurring dream that I have every couple of years. I wake up crying and missing someone I've never even met. I have a friend who says it must be a past life memory. And isn't that an intriguing thought??

So far, all I've gotten from my quest is one bad/weird dream and a whole lot of sleep deprivation. Eating before bed is definitely not conducive to a good night's sleep. And when four people in the same household are suffering, it gets a little cranky. So I think we'll try again maybe one night next week.

Oh, and I did get a story idea from this experiment. And since I needed one for a competition, I guess at least the experiment wasn't a total fail.

tell me your dreams,
♥Spot

The one where I try to induce nightmares...

So I read this article the other day on "Urban Myths that are really true". And one of them was that candy causes nightmares. I'd never heard that before and couldn't think of any time I'd seen a definite correlation. So I did what we always do in my house in that kind of situation. I decided to conduct an experiment. I announced close to bedtime that everyone had to eat some candy because I wanted them to have nightmares. Sean and I had Jelly Beans, but I only had yellow and orange, because those are the only ones I'll eat. Luckily, Sean loves me enough (or I pester him enough) that he picks out those ones and hands them to me. Luke and Lu had gummy worms. When I felt we were sufficiently sugared up, I wished everyone scary nightmares.

Lu: You really just wished us nightmares?

Me: Duh. The experiment will be a failure if you don't have any.

Luke: You just mean like weird dreams, right?

Me: Um. No. I want full on, wake up screaming nightmares. I haven't had one of those in forever!

Luke: You're like seriously excited about this. Why?

Me: I love to be scared. Nightmares are the best! They make great story ideas.

Lu: I'm totally facebooking this. *and she did. Her status-My mother just made me eat candy before bed because she wants to see if I have nightmares. Can we say best mom ever award?!?! Lmao.*

Sean: I hope you feel good about the cavities I'm going to get because you made us eat candy so late at night.

Me: I didn't say you couldn't brush your teeth, Sean. You're not blaming that on me.

Sean: This is so going in my notebook for my future therapist.

Fast forward to morning. No one had a nightmare. I was super bummed. We did all confess to very strange dreams. I knew I'd had one, but had forgotten it by the time I actually got up. Sean's was almost a nightmare. He and Lu were having a party and she drank all the whiskey and half the wine, even though she hates wine. But overall we decided it wasn't scary enough to be a nightmare.

The next night, we tried ice cream. With chocolate and caramel sauce. Still, no one woke up screaming. Again, a few weird and almost lucid dreams. I have to commend my children on allowing me to mess with their digestion and sleep patterns in my quest for a scientific way to induce nightmares. I have had a few suggestions from helpful people, but most of them involve alcohol or illegal drugs. Not happening. Alcohol has never made me have nightmares. I'm open to other suggestions though. Anyone got some??

In the name of science,
♥Spot