In the past two weeks a significant change has happened in our family. Many would scoff and argue that it really isn't that huge of a deal. But for me, it's been enormous.
The last 7 years of my life has revolved around one thing. Every daily activity has been scheduled around it. Drastic measures have been taken to ensure that it occurs. Without it, our life would have been disastrous.
You see, when you are a stay-at-home mom, there are two times in your seemingly endless day which trump all others.
1. The moment Daddy walks in the door after work. (Thank you Jesus, I can go to the bathroom!)
And 2. The Afternoon Nap.
Ah yes, the Afternoon Nap. The holy grail of motherhood.
And as of last week, the Afternoon Nap is no longer a part of our life.
The shift began gradually, as these things do. After being in school all day, I didn't have the heart to make Brody come right home and lay down for a nap, so on those two days, I let him stay up to play with Molly. What I found was that he was surprisingly good natured and that he fell asleep in about 30 seconds when we put him to bed at night.
Conversely, the other days that he was napping ended up being awful. He would fall asleep easily when I put him down for a nap, but when it was time to wake up, I might as well have been raising the dead. It would take him a full 90 minutes to fully wake up (and stop being a gigantic bear) and then guess what? It was time for bed. At that point he ended up just laying (and playing) in bed until 9 or 10 PM when he would finally fall asleep.
So, after coming home to a very cranky Brody for the umpteenth day in a row, Drew suggested that maybe, just maybe, it was time to do away with the naps.
I reacted like he slapped me in the face.
THE NAP!!??
THE AFTERNOON NAP!!??
NOOOOOOOOO!
Have you lost your mind??
Anything but that.
How will I ever survive?
(Quiet sobbing in the corner.)
Well, it's been two weeks now, and I am surprised and happy to report that things have been going better than I expected. Molly and I miss our time alone together in the afternoon, but she gets to play with Brody during that time instead. We haven't had any post dinner meltdowns and everyone goes right to sleep at bed time.
So sayonara Afternoon Nap. As much as you will be missed, I am enjoying our new found freedom as a family without you around. We had a good run, but it's time to move on.
I am, however, looking forward to the arrival of your cousin "Sleeping In On the Weekends" at our house. Let me know when she gets into town because I could use some extra ZZZZZs.
4 comments:
Great post! I totally agree about the afternoon nap. I miss that little bit of time that I HAD to myself.
Nooooooooooooo!!!! Seriously it does sound like he's ready. We're not there yet... even though Ally is, oh goodness, 4 1/2, without her nap she's a horror at 6:00. She does fall asleep quickly those nights, though... guess we're in a long transition.
That was such a freeing milestone for our family. I LOVE our napless life...but it's too bad you can't reinstate them every once in a while :) maybe now we can have an afternoon playmate sometime!!!
Oh, this post hits too close to home! We're in the nap- fall asleep at 9:30pm scenario. I'm fighting it. Even if there's no napping, I will be implementing the 1 hour quiet time....for my sake. But I must agree, we've been skipping Saturday naps and it sure makes Saturday night bedtime a breeze. Oh, the dilemma.
Post a Comment