"Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body." (Elizabeth Stone)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

Oh, the decisions...

There is a time in every mothers life where it's just no longer possible to win.  For me, it happens when my kids are just older than two.  It is a stage where, no matter what, you have an unhappy child on your hands.  This time has finally arrived...  Jaymeson has declared a big, fat "nap war" on me.  Every day he forces me into making the incredibly difficult decision: "To nap or not to nap..."

Yes, he's actually sleeping like this...

If I decide "to nap", I have a little boy who is sneaking down the stairs until 10 o'clock at night.  At this point, we have to take him back up and lie down on his floor for at least 20 minutes until he falls asleep.  Then he's generally up every few hours throughout the night.  Essentially, he's a little TOO rested.


If I decide "not to nap", I either have a little boy that will fall asleep around dinner time and be impossible to wake-up and then have to deal with the consequences of having a nap. OR I have a little boy who cries over EVERYTHING and is collapsing in tantrums on the floor (VERY unusual for little Jaymeson).

So I ask you, what would you do?!?  Nap or not nap???

5 comments:

Alanna said...

Nap wars are the worst! Jack still needs a nap sometimes cuz he gets so tired at night, but rarely has one. Maybe nap him, but do it earlier in the day, so he's a little more tired at night? Or make sure he's awake by a certain time?

Alanna said...

Or have a REALLY early bedtime? That's what saved me with Jarom. No naps but moved bedtime from 8 to 6.

Nikki (and Crew!) said...

Amie does this too-I've started putting her down for nap earlier. It's harder to keep her down cause she doesn't feel as tired as later, but it makes bedtime much more bearable. We're NOT moving bedtime later, that's for sure!
Sometimes I just make sure she's not sleeping past a certain time of day, but she's a super pill when you wake her up from a nap, so I don't like to do that if I don't have to.

Kristy said...

oh man, i feel your pain! that is definetely hard when they are in the transition stage of finishing naps.

Not many tips, especially for you who has done it a few times more then me :p

Just make sure naptime is still quiet time with a movie or something so they aren't burning out there energy so quick during the day..

Kimberly Anne said...

Well in my university nap, i often have this debate. And I seem to have the same problem as Jaymeson cause even when I decide not to nap I end up accidentally taking one anyways... usually when I'm trying to get some reading done for class... whops! The nap ALWAYS wins. haha