Nightmares on my Street?

So, evidently, something was "in the air" last night with my kids. BOTH of them suffered from nightmares in the middle of the night! Toby woke up screaming twice. I picked him up out of his crib and he immediately started to settle down and relax, getting drowsy within a couple of minutes. So, I guess it was nightmares... Thomas, since he is five, told me himself that he had a "bad dream". He was awake from 12:30-2:30 AM, too nervous to fall asleep, wondering what every single sound was in our house. He's been going through this a lot lately, but it is usually at the beginning of the night when he's trying to fall asleep. I empathize greatly with him because when I was a kid, I was scared of the dark and had a hard time falling asleep. Truth be told, I still don't really like the extreme dark. For instance, if I am in our basement and the light accidentally gets shut off, you can be sure that I shout out and I even close my eyes until that light is turned back on! I don't know why this comforts me but it does! I have also always had vivid dreams that stick with you.

Toby is awake, but thankfully, he slept until 8:00 AM and Thomas still sleeps on. Part of me thinks I should wake him, but he is so cranky when he doesn't get enough sleep and the kids are "all mine" today. Today is not a preschool day and James is going Home Teaching again tonight without coming home from work, so they will probably both be in bed by the time he gets home.

Until later,

Emily