If you’ve
ever climbed a tree in your sleep and fell from it, then strangely, you’d be
part of a group of people that have had unusual or terrifying experiences while
sleepwalking.
Thankfully,
I’ve never done anything quite this drastic, but in my younger years I had been
known to walk into rooms in the middle of the night and just stand in the dark
only to be discovered and guided back to bed.
There were times I would talk, laugh, grunt and even scream in my sleep. When in my early 20’s, I had leaped from the
bed kicking, screaming and thrashing about until I was tangled in my own bed
sheets. My then roommate, startled by
the chaos, shook to wake me from a very horrible and realistic nightmare. I instantly recalled that my dream was a wild
animal attacking me and I was trying to fight it off. Occasionally, I still have incidents of
talking or laughing, but no longer have any of the fall off the bed nightmare
episodes.
However, “the
apple doesn’t fall far from the tree,” which is what the title implies. Apparently, the condition of sleepwalking can
be inherited, which brings me to my teenage son. It seems that families that sleepwalk
together stay creep together. Find here "8 Facts About Sleepwalking."
It all
started about 8 years ago when I was awakened in the middle of the night by a
distinct sound of water hitting the surface of the wood floor. While trying to focus my eyes in the dark and
establish my surroundings from a deep slumber, the first thought was that it
was raining and something was leaking in the hallway.
With more head
clarity, I realized it wasn’t raining outside. It was then that my motherly
instincts suddenly kicked in and I knew exactly where the water sound was
coming from.
With moves
like Jagger, I spun out of bed and sprinted to the hallway to confirm my
suspicions. After a flip of the light
switch, there was my young son standing in an unknowing daze and with the aim
of a sharp shooter, emitting a hard stream into an empty clothes basket!
In his
defense, it WAS white and situated just outside the bathroom, which would
confuse anybody stumbling through the dark to quickly relieve themselves.
Naturally, Mister O
stirred from the commotion along with my daughter and both joined in the
hallway for the pee party.
None of this roused my
son as Mister O proceeded to guide him into the bathroom.
Meanwhile, I was left
behind holding the pee basket and it seemed I had arrived on the scene just in
time. Another inch and we would have reached a dangerous level of spillage
through the vented holes of the basket.
Of course, the next
morning my son had no recollection of any of this happening. Although for us, it made
for a funny childhood memory and it still comes up on occasion as a little playful
teasing. Now, the story lives on in the
blogosphere. Oh well, I'm sure one day when my son has his own
sleepwalking kids, he'll have a funny story to tell too. Remember the apple and
the tree?
Jump forward 8 years
later to the present and my son told me just last week he found himself
standing in the kitchen in the middle of the night with no idea why he was
there.
Then the sleepwalking
streak continues as he told me of another incident where he woke up in the
morning and noticed that he was clutching a new sweatshirt he had purchased just days before. It had been hanging in his closet and he had no memory of getting it out of the
closet, much less, cuddling with it the rest of the night. Did he
subconsciously love that new sweatshirt? Funny and very interesting.
Sleepwalking is pretty
common with young kids and adolescents, but typically they grow out of it. Some people have this dilemma right into
adulthood. There have even been reports of people committing crimes while
sleepwalking and other strange incidents. Check out this link to 10 terrifying tales of sleepwalking.
Honestly, I think my
son is going through a normal teenage phase. Pretty sure we don't have to worry
about him climbing a 130 foot crane to sleep at the top. Hope not anyway! Hmmm...I guess, it could happen.
On the other hand, until
his sleepwalking phase passes, you can be sure I'll be checking all the laundry
baskets.
Sweet dreams and I'm
certain you won't look at a laundry basket the same again.
Do you have a
sleepwalking tale?
Put your smile on and unwrap
A Square of Chocolate,
Laurie O
This is so funny because my niece was a sleepwalker--she once headed, open-eyed and sound asleep, out the door to the balcony--and now her 3-year-old daughter has started sleepwalking. When I was in high school I remember my boyfriend's mom opened the linen closet one day and was puzzled about the yellow streaks up and down the inside of the door. It turned out my boyfriend's younger brother was sleep-peeing at night. I guess he couldn't find the laundry basket!
ReplyDeleteOMG, I'm so glad we had the laundry basket and it only happened once! Now, walking out onto a balcony...that's scary! Better keep an eye on that 3 year old. Thanks for sharing Lee :)
DeleteMy sister used to sleepwalk, outside into the front yard one night, or she would laugh in her sleep, she even demanded I get her a scissors once. I asked her why, she said, I want to cut the fringes off the bedspread. I then told her the bedspread didn't have fringes and she looked frustrated at me, and went right back to sleep.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny! Actually going outside, though, is concerning. Hope my son doesn't do something like that. Yikes!
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