Don't worry. This is actually quite common. You are feeling what is known as Sleep Paralysis. Every night, when you go into REM and begin dreaming, your brain paralyzes your body, and you hallucinate (in other words, dream). The difference is that you are awake during this period, when most people are not. For this reason, you are on the edge of the dream state, which is why you see bats and ghosts and all sorts of things.
How do you deal with it, you might ask? Well, I can think of two ways.
1. When it happens, relax. It might be tough, but you seem to have somewhat conditioned yourself to realize what's happening is not real. Very good. Remember, it can't hurt you. Keep taking deep breaths, stay calm, and try to wiggle until you can move again. Oh, and don't sleep on your back to help avoid it; it has a much higher chance of happening when you go to sleep on your back. No idea why.
2. Make it something useful. If you look around the forums a bit, you'll see the WILD technique for Lucid Dreaming. In that particular tech, you go from the waking state into a dream directly. Sleep paralysis is the transition phase between the two states. Usually, if you find yourself in SP, simply relaxing totally, trying not to move, and clearing your mind will drop you straight into a Lucid Dream. I am almost jealous of you actually, since I am not yet very good at WILD because I can't quite get into SP as easy as other people.
Welcome to the forums, BTW. Good luck with the Sleep Paralysis.
Edit: Just read the bit with your mother. What your Mother is having is just a recurring dream/nightmare. It won't necessarily happen to you, as your Sleep Paralysis and her randomly created nightmares are totally unconnected. If you do end up with some reccuring nightmare, though, make it an opportunity to have a Lucid Dream. Remember to do a reality check whenever you recognize the recurring symbol (you'll see this called a Dreamsign on the forums) and bam, Lucidity. Then you're free to do whatever you want. Hit the man over the head with a lead pipe, perhaps.
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