Nap Time

Nap time. You've heard of it, right? It is that hour and a half to two hours of your day when you can breathe, relax, do laundry, shower (for more than 5 minutes and without a small child opening and closing the shower door 5 times), or read a book. You look forward to it, I know you do. The fact that we cherish that time doesn't make us evil parents either. I used to feel sort of bad about it, but not now, I'm over that.

So why is this post entitled, "Nap Time"? you ask. Well, at 3 apparently (which, I know I have been warned about) there is a power struggle that occurs between parent and child. You say stand, they sit. You say quiet, they scream. You say the sky is blue, they ask "WHY?" no less than 200 times. There are also random tantrums that come out of nowhere, and in our house at least, a LOT of back talk (as my father used to call it). It is a new phase that came literally the day Lucy turned 3 (ESPECIALLY the asking why). And now there is a battle of the wills over nap time.

THREE is NOT old enough to stop naps. I firmly believe that (and it isn't because I so cherish my few hours alone in the middle of the day either). Four is probably more appropriate for ending the naps, but let me tell you, this child will still have some quiet time in her room each day. Anyway, back to the ORDEAL...Lucy has been off and on just flat out refusing to take naps at school about once a week for about a month now. However, last week, she went three days with no nap. You could say that her teachers were less than pleased with her when I came to get her each day. They sort of "swarmed" me when I showed up. Not fun. Much like her mother, when Lucy doesn't get good sleep, she tends to whine and cry and make mountains out of molehills. She also knows that when she skips nap, she goes to bed early. No fun for any of us.

After much threatening, as well as her teachers videotaping her having a meltdown after no nap and then showing it to her, Lucy finally gave in to the nap on Thursday. Took a TWO HOUR bad boy! Then Friday, she took another good nap. Yesterday, it was only an hour. Today it was 25 minutes. Oh, did I mention she's sick too? So she REALLY needs the rest. I even told her that we'd go to get ice cream, play outside, and watch her favorite show "The Fresh Beat Band" if she took a good nap today. 25 minutes into it, she told me (through incredibly red, sleepy eyes) that she was all done. OH! She also told me it made her happy that I was sad and that her Mumsy (who we were going to get ice cream with) was sad. She also informed me that she probably made her Grandy, Mimi, Papa, and Daddy sad too. Isn't that so nice? She was saying it with a look on her face like, "Yep, I'm testing you mom. Let's see how you do." Needless to say, she's in her room and is NOT to come out until I tell her to. That could very well be next Wednesday.

I felt like today she should be wearing a shirt that says, "Yep, I'm a bad_ _ _." Or perhaps this outfit:

Either one makes my point that she thinks she is going to be in charge this year. Not cool, or true.

So today will be slightly miserable for me. I am stuck inside, with no t.v. OR ice cream. Sometimes it is hard to punish the child, especially when your sanity is slowly draining from you exhausted body. However, if we want her to be a successful, well-balanced, "normal" adult, I'll do without the ice cream today. My waistline probably needs a salad more anyway.

Below are a couple of pictures from last month. Valentine's Day came and went, and she got a cute little leotard to play around in. It's days like this I tell myself, "Remember when she was two, and so cute?" Surely she'll do something redeeming tomorrow...

Ahh, parenthood. There's never a dull moment.