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| back in the good ol' days of napping |
It didn't matter that they began to protest this need for sleep, or that they reached the age where friends were allowed to go nap free. Here's the thing, nap time has always been a little bit more about my need for them to nap, than it is about their need to nap.
Over the years it has evolved into "rest time" a time where they don't have to sleep but they do have to rest quietly in their rooms for a period of time, followed by a time of quiet playing.
This concept worked great with Kylynn when she finally outgrew naps (only about a year ago), she was happy to play with her dollhouse, look at books, or "read" in her room making not a peep. This allowed for nap time to continue without change, the other kiddos could nap without being disturbed and I could have some time to myself to break up my day.
Then Jack reached the magical, I'm not tired age, and unlike his sister he wasn't kidding. That boy would not fall asleep, not ever, no matter how evident his need for a nap was. So I of course implemented "rest time" with him. He would have to stay in his bed and look at books for 20 minutes (he knows when he can get out based on the hands of the clock) and then he could play quietly in his room.
The problem is Jack is not interested in anything that is quiet, anything that involves rest, or spending anytime at all in his bed. So every. single. day. I go into his room countless times to deal with the fact that he has gotten out of bed before the set time. Then when, yippee, play time has come he has this compulsion to open and close his door over and over again, very loudly. He knows he's not supposed to do it, but I swear sometimes I think he can't help it.
If by chance I decide to lay down and take a nap, I am usually awakened very suddenly after a very short nap by a slamming door, if I manage to fall back asleep the whole scene will repeat itself in 90 seconds. Needless to say this makes me rather angry and puts a damper on my afternoon. If I decide to stay up and get somethings accomplished I spend so much time going up and down the stairs dealing with Jack, that I get nothing accomplished and again end up angry and in a foul mood for the afternoon.
Either way, I lose, nap time is no longer something I look forward to. Instead of being a nice time of quiet around the house for us all to rest and prepare for the rest of our day, nap time has become a time to see if we can make mommy lose her mind.
And it's working, there is not much left to this mind of mine....I miss nap time!
2 comments:
This is what was happening at our house and it was driving me crazy! I started sending them down to the playroom to watch a movie. The problem is they don't like movies--won't watch anything longer than 25 minutes!!! The good news is that now they go to bed (and are asleep) at 7 PM on the dot, so we have a good bit of quiet time in the evenings, but the days are still so long!!!!
For the FIRST time in the 2 years I've been home full-time, I have nap time. Our oldest took great naps, but then wouldn't sleep at night, so when we took him out of day care, we stopped naps. Which meant I always had one awake during nap time. Quiet time wouldn't work because he always fell asleep. Anyway, now he is in kindergarten all day, so only two for nap/rest time. only, I'm starting to spend a bunch of that time getting Natalie back in her room, or dealing with something that she is doing (lately - seeing what she can get into in the bathroom). So I'm feeling your pain. I really want that time because it would make my days much better. but since my kids already go to bed at 7, I'm not sure I'm ready to just give up...I keep hoping sanity is just around the corner.
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