I have had two instances where I almost became lucid (through the DILD technique). I'll describe them, and then I'd really like some advice of what I did wrong.

Okay, first one: I had some dream memories already (I was in a school for some reason), but I was also pretty sure I was dreaming. So, when I did a reality check, a DC handed me a phone, and I thought it was my dad whispering in my ear IWL...until it became unintelligible. Then the whole dreamscape blew apart and I was floating above it, and suddenly a banshee came out of nowhere and screamed really loud. I could tell it was time to wake up as soon as I started floating, but I didn't expect the banshee to be the last thing I saw.

Second one, much more recent...my mom was standing on the ladder above my bunk bed. I did a reality check, but I guess I didn't expect it to work because the dream was so vivid...so my reality check failed and I was so shocked I immediately woke up. I can't recall the rest of the dream, because my dream recall is weird...I remember some more details after a couple hours but then I forget the others. (Is that unusual?)

How close was I, and does anyone have any advice?