Naptime, you are not my friend.
I know I know...this puts me at odds with just about every other mother out there.
Every other mother seems to love naps.
I hate them.
Even after 4 kids, I still can't figure them out.
The problem is I'm too loosey-goosey and unstructured to consider naptime sacrosanct and never leave the house during naptime.
And, I'm too uptight to be all, whatever, take a nap at 4:00 PM and then stay up until 10:30 PM, no problem.
Which means that naptime is always a constant struggle, once my babies get past the age of just napping everywhere and all the time.
Oh sure...on days we don't leave the house until at least 3:00 PM it's fine.
But, if we go anywhere before 3:00 PM, it's a pain in the you-know-what because it means that depending on how much sleep the toddler got the night before, she could fall asleep anywhere from 10 AM to 2 PM (only napping for 45-60 minutes). And, 45-60 minutes isn't long enough to get a decent break, so all the hassle of getting her down for a nap (usually involves 15 minutes of nursing and slinging) and scheduling it around other activities doesn't seem worth it.
But, she still needs it.
But, she still needs it.
 |
| Belly hanging out and all |
Taking her in the car to go anyplace could easily end up in a 10-minute car nap that as my mom would say "doesn't cut the mustard" but totally precludes any longer nap for several more hours..which leads to the aforementioned 4:00 PM nap and up to 10:30 PM scenario. And lots of times, we want and need to go places before 3:00 PM. I refuse to have my older kids miss out on coops or park days or field trips or classes because it interferes with naptime.
Which means we have to cram naps around other activities, since she is now mostly too old to nap when out and about.
Going someplace in the morning, means she is likely to have that 10-minute car nap on the way home.
Going someplace in the early afternoon means we have to somehow cram nap and lunch in before 1:00 PM.
Staying home all the time is boring.
And so, I eagerly await the day when she gives up naps all together.
Anyone else with me? Or am I the only weird, nap-hating mother out there?
