Fare Thee Well, Morning Nap

I hate change. I think that I was the only kid who would wax sentimental when moving from third to fourth grade. So, this week has been a bit challenging for me as we transition Suttie from two naps to one and from bottles to sippy cups. It all started two days ago when my husband returned from a week-long business trip. If I haven’t mentioned it before, my husband and son are the same person, except that one’s less mature and in diapers and one is a year old (zing!). The entire time that Sutton was gone, Suttie got up at 6:00am on the dot, unless he decided that he had so much to do that he needed to wake up at 5:30am. But as soon as his father is home and starts handling morning routine again, my child decides to sleep until 8:00am as a sign of male solidarity. Now, because of this later start time, my child no longer wants to take an afternoon nap, even though he knows that Mommy has a date with General Hospital at 2:00pm. So, something has to give, and that something is his morning nap.

I knew that this day would come when I had to entertain my child for more than a two-hour block of time. Was I prepared? No. Was I willing? No; that’s why we invested in the playroom TV. But I was going to give it the old college try and see if, for one day, I could do nothing but play with a dancing Mickey Mouse and hammer a peg board. And after a day that felt like a week, it was finally the hour of salvation, 1:00 pm – time for the afternoon nap. Two and a half hours later, he was ready to go again, but we were both refreshed enough to survive until his dad made it home.

So, today, we’re taking it easy. He’s crawling around the playroom and entertaining himself, while I blog and occasionally turn around to say things like, “Be careful…Get down from there…Let go of the dog!” In a minute, I’ll shut down the computer and go help him destroy the place, but in this moment, we’re doing our own things and that’s okay. And at 1:00pm, I’ll regather my marbles and maybe even work in a shower.


Disclaimer: When I say, “we’re doing our own things,” I mean, “we’re doing our own things in a safe, child-proofed environment.” Please do not let your kid loose in a McDonald’s play area while you get a mani-pedi and then say, “Well, Kate did it.”