Sweets and Japanese Horror Movies...

It's been a strange evening.

Papa was away last night - he had to go to a fancy dinner in London with a client whilst the boys and I had a fish and chip supper followed by Easter eggs for dessert. Which was, admittedly, great fun.

Whenever one of us is away the boys just don't seem to settle - and last night was no different.

TJ has begun to horde food - I don't know where that comes from - he eats like a horse, but is now apparently waking up in the middle of the night hungry. What is surprising is that rather than come and wake me or Papa and ask for a piece of toast or some cereal (which we would happily give) instead he sneaks into the kitchen and steals sweets - which he obviously prefers to cereal, and I do restrict the boys sugar intake, so actually maybe its not that surprising at all - where I see a psychological imbalance based on his past experiences there may just be a greedy little boy who wants sweets!

However, last night I caught him in the act of sneaking downstairs... Papa was late home and I was still up when this little figure starts creeping down the stairs and into the kitchen. I stepped behind him as he explored the 'treat' cupboard. 'What do you think you are doing?" I whispered in his ear - he jumped a mile.

"I just needed a drink of water," he said, "I was thirsty."

"Really," I replied, "Is there a tap in that cupboard."

He looked guilty. "No, but there is orange juice." (his juice boxes for lunch are stored there and he wasnt having one of those...)

I gave him a glass of water and took him back to bed.

As we walked up the stairs I heard a commotion in my study. I walked in to find KC, in the pitch black, throwing all my books to the floor and turning the furniture over, literally turning it upside down. I clicked on the light to see that he was fast asleep. I decided not to wake him and just followed him talking quietly and telling him it was time to go to bed. All the while picking up the things he threw behind him. He then walked out on to the landing, had a wander around, then went straight back to bed. It was quite bizarre - like one of those Japanese horror movies where the child has been possessed.

So with the boys back in bed I settled down to finish watching my movie and the house fell silent again.

At that moment Papa stumbled through the door - the dogs went beserk and the children woke up again.

I didn't sleep much last nigh!

Sleepwalkers...

The title sounds like a trashy horror movie... I wish it was. Although sometimes our eldest child's nocturnal walkabouts have given us both a shock.

Once whilst watching the movie 'Insidious' (about the possession of a small boy by an evil being) TJ suddenly appeared in eerie silence in the living room doorway backlit by the hall light - my popcorn flew across the room and Papa squealed like a small girl - or large meerkat, depending on your viewpoint. Upon hearing our commotion TJ simply opened his eyes and stared (which caused Papa to cower) before simply turning around and going back to bed.

The other night I heard a noise from the bathroom - rushing in expecting the worst I found TJ singing to himself whilst placing all his teddies and soft toys into the bath. I managed to steer him back to his room just before he turned the water on and drowned the lot of them. Can you imagine explaining that to a 7 year old next morning? But it did have the look of The Shining about it, especially as he grinned inanely whilst placing each toy next to each other in their pond of death.

TJ has a mid sleeper bed - one that has a pirate theme, so it has a hide out underneath. A hideout where the cat likes to sleep. A couple of nights ago I went in to find TJ standing in the corner of his bed - perilously close to falling out. 'What are you doing?' I shouted - not realising he was asleep. 'You have to save the cat... save him!!!!!!!' TJ screamed back at me - I have no idea what that was about but in the morning TJ simply got up and said, 'I dont think the cat should sleep in my room anymore.'... To be honest, I think the cat was relieved. He had seen what happened to the toys the night before....

Well, last night TJ went for one of his walkabouts and I steered him back to bed just before he went down the stairs - he had a need to turn the lights on... I have no idea why but it was very important to him that we burn as much electricity as possible. He got back into bed and lay there staring at the ceiling with his eyes open (that's always freaky) then told me he was cold and pulled his covers over him before drifitng back to that most beautiful of childish states - sleep. Its funny how we stand for ages and coo over our slumbering darlings and smile when they snuffle or snore. In my own experience if I so much as make a little bit of noise I am dug in the ribs and told to turn over or even go into the other room - where is my adoring gaze??????

I digress... so this morning TJ got out of bed and proudly showed my the video he had taken with his leap pad - of him sleep walking. He didnt believe me when I told him of his walkabouts so he set his recorder up and it had captured the moment he left his room. I now think he may have staged it in a 'Paranormal Activity' type of fashion... but it was pretty cool (and a little bit creepy) to watch. But at least now he will believe me when I tell him of his night time habits!