I suppose I hoped, in some hazy corner of the twisted dodecahedron of my brain that my son would inherit the best of me. Equally I look for myself in him fairly fruitlessly on a regular basis. Today, however, my wishes were granted and lo, I looked at my son and could see myself.
A while ago we thought we were headed towards the land of no naps, the dread land where parents don't get to spend an hour or two leaving the scissors out and reading books without bits of wet biscuit in the pages. Recently, however we've had a boomerang on naps with the spud actively requesting 'a rest Mummy, I want a rest please and milk, a rest and some milk Mummy, please' and lying down beatifically on his bed with his bottle, pointing at various blankets until one meets his stringent specifications of fashion, comfort and warmth and then rolling over to gently snore to himself for two hours.
No, I'm not kidding. I know, you can hate me.
Anyway, I treasure each one of these voluntary naps with the sort of care a biologist might lavish on the last living specimin of some rare species and today, as expected, they came abruptly to a halt. My suggestion that he might like to lie on the sofa with some nice milk was met with the sort of hysterics normally reserved for the loss of a treasured toy to a maurauding friend and after wrestling him into his bed and
I got up, exhausted and went studiously on with the business of avoiding my tax return. Two hours later he was still out and, fearing for his bedtime, I went to get him up. 'No wake up! I want sleep! NO WAKE UP! Sleep! Sleep!' he cried. This time it took half an hour of me going in every 5 minutes to stroke his back while he pulled the covers over his head and shouted at me until he consented to get up.
Obstinate. Contrary. Bugger.
8 comments:
There was no way that you were going down to a nap at the same time as your brother. If I had persuaded you to sleep you would have been up until midnight with"Mummy c'n I have? Please may I?" and many longish hysterics. We gave up, you stayed up all day and slept at night, eventually. Sort of.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Navigating toddlerhood is a bit like walking the plank with a knife wielding pirate behind you and shark infested waters below. Although with the right medications, I hear it can be like rainbows and puppy dogs!
Cooper keeps going back-and-forth on naps, fighting hard to avoid falling asleep, and then waking up more miserable than when he went down! It sometimes makes me wonder if the hour of quiet I get is even worth it. (That last statement being clear evidence that I need more medication.)
Terrible as it may sound, I used to live for the two hour nap my daughter had every afteroon as it gave me a short break. When they stopped I had to hang on to get the same time when she was at nursery for 2 hours. It can all get very exhausting, much as we love them and could never manage without them.
They say that our children are our parents revenge. I see huge competitiveness, shouting and stuborness in both of mine. My mother is loving it.
Naps - their loss is a disaster. And the transition from naps to no naps is complex as they try not to and then crash at about 4.30 and then refuse to wake up or go to bed later. We are right in the middle of this phase at the moment. I feel your pain!
I have completely given up on naps for my two year old. I did not go down without a fight. He is so strong willed, I just opted for the drop at 4 PM if you're tired option. This option doesn't involve the tantrum and hysterics. However, it does mean that I deal with a very tired and cranky boy at 3:30 in the afternoon on many days! Can't win for losing.
I held on to naps for as long as I could. And the cot. I know I would have gone crazy if I didn't get a break.
i had to laugh... we have those two words constantly in our house... 'NO NAP NO NAP NO NAP' !!
unfortunately tho the naps have stopped now!
x
Jonathan has not yet given up naps, thank the Lord. What I like is that if he takes a nap, I usually can too. Like today. Just got up from an hour and a half nap. On Sunday's we go to my parents and he naps on the way down. No nap for me. But on Saturdays, usually I can get one in. The day he gives them up? You shall see my blog draped in black in pure mourning.
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