I think that your monkeys symbolize the kind of minor troubles that you can normally handle, and do every day. Perhaps recently, you have found yourself not quite able to keep up.

Monkeys often symbolize trouble and mischief - sometimes malignant, and sometimes benign, it's hard to tell with monkeys because they are so random and chaotic. We also have the expression "a monkey on his back" to talk about someone with an addiction, or a very bad problem such as gambling. These creatures can often seem very human-like, so I'm thinking that your particular problems have to do with people - perhaps children?

In each of the two recent dreams, friends are trying to warn you of the monkey behind you. This seems very significant to me. Someone, or maybe many someones, is trying to tell you about a problem that you have, and I think that you may not be listening or maybe you don't believe them. Time to pay attention.