So Long to Nap Time

I love naps. I love to take them. I loved to put my boys down for them. It was like my small piece of heaven wrapped up in a day full of chaos. When I took/take them, I wouldn't have to worry about the craziness around me which often consisted of some form of fighting or loud electronic entertainment. It's become white noise to me now. I can nap through it all. When I'd put the boys down, it was a few hours of peace and freedom to do mindless, non-thinking activities like watch t.v. or play on the internet. Maybe even catch a nap of my own. My youngest, Rylan, has so sadly outgrown his naps. For 4-and-almost-one-half years he took them and hardly ever put up a fuss. He still needs them (so I tell myself), but he's become too difficult to convince. He's seen through all of my hidden agendas. We tried "meditation" and we tried resting-with-our-eyes-closed-but-not-sleeping We've even tried sit-on-the-bed-and-read-until-I-say-you-can-come-out-and-hopefully-you-will-pass-out-first. They've all worked once, but he's one smart, stubborn cookie.

So comes the end of an era of raising children who nap. It's a benchmark in any parents' lives. Now I must entertain my child for 2-3 more hours of the day. Now I must find my "me" time somewhere else....to which there is no other place that it will fit unless I stay up longer, but that is a BAD idea. You see these bags under my eyes already?????

I actually caught myself reminiscing about the glorious napping days of all of my boys. They were always such "good" nappers. Bryson loved to nap all day and then he'd be up all night. Once we fixed that, he would nap every day after lunch until he started school. Cayden was like clockwork. From the time he was a baby, his mission in life was to play hard, eat, and sleep. I could time his naps on a watch and it would be like deja vu every day. He was the most consistent of all. He still needs that extra sleep, but because he's in 4th grade, I think a nap would be frowned upon by his peers. He just goes to bed much earlier than....any other kid that I know.

Now my "baby" is preparing to enter kindergarten this coming fall. His eyes still roll to the back of his head and his lids get heavy as he answers "NO!" when I ask him if he's tired after his morning at preschool. He still stares into space as I snap and clap in his face and ask him if he needs a nap. Once he enters the house and I say the magic words, "Go potty and take your shoes off", he just looses it. I consider myself to be a pretty consistent mom, but I've weighed the options of fighting the stubborness and holding him down on his bed until he's done kicking and screaming at me or just letting him have some "quiet time" and then putting him to bed earlier. It seems that the less agressive turns out to be the least stressful. I have less time to do my "work" but I do get time that is quiet and I get a happy boy.

I, too, have made some improvements on my napping routine. I have been taking fewer naps during my days and I miraculously get more acomplished aound the house and I have more time to do my running. On most days I get 6-8 miles in. Yay! I'm not going to say that I am in a better mood, or that I don't snore now at night, because I've been told that I have been more consistent with my log sawing.

But unlike most of my blogs, I will end on a positive and uplifting note. I will consider myself a good mother for getting my boys through their preschool days well-rested. I'd even go as far as saying that I've gotten my boys to "enjoy" napping beyond the age of an average child-napper. That happened to be one of two great goals of mine as far as longevity. The other was breastfeeding...and would it be too much to tell you that my 4-and-almost-one-half-year-old son still asks me questions like "Member yesterday when I use to eat from your boobies?" (He's still working on time lapse, obviously....)