I try to be relatively laid back about parenting — and life in general, but especially with parenting — because I feel like there’s just so much out there that you can do (everything now has a name or an acronym or a hashtag) and it all has a very good possibility to make you crazy. You want to do it all, to control it all, and I don’t know, but I feel like despite everything I set out to do, LG is still going to turn out to be her own version of herself, not my version of her, and just because I am really set out to do these things, in the end, it doesn’t really matter, and in the now, it could stress me out and that’s not good.
THAT BEING SAID.
I think every parent has that one thing that they take very seriously, that maybe makes them a little crazy. Something that is their hill to die on, if you will. For me that is naps. I am very high-strung about naps. If we’re going somewhere, I plan the outing around naps. I know her nap schedule like the back of my hand. I know that recently she’s started waking up about halfway through her nap, crying for a second, and then falling back asleep. Some people might think she’s done napping, but OH NO SHE IS NOT DONE NAPPING. I am starting to see that I probably rely on LG’s naps more than LG relies on her naps and I can tell that the day she stops napping will be a very difficult day for me.
But, for now NAPS ARE MY THING. Case in point: We were in Oregon for Chris’s brother’s wedding last summer and at the rehearsal dinner, I got to chatting with the maid-of-honor (who I had met and chatted with the night before.) I mentioned something about LG’s nap (I, uhh, am pretty sure it was relevant to the conversation — GOD I HOPE IT WAS) and the maid of honor said to me, “Yes, I know how important the nap schedule is to you.” This is a girl who I’d only just met, a relative stranger, and in less than 24 hours, even she knew that naps are my thing. I am not proud of this fact, but there you have it.
Everyone has their thing. Naps are mine. What’s yours?
BEDTIME. Emily does not go to bed later than 7, period. Sometimes she goes to bed before 6, if her naps have been terrible that day. People think I’m crazy. She gets about 13 hours of sleep at night, so WHO’S CRAZY NOW??
Bedtime here too. The kids wake up at the crack of dawn, and Kalena is getting old enough that she doesn’t always sleep at nap time, so bedtime is big. I don’t keep them out late, even if they’re being good. And there’s no dilly-dallying at bedtime either. I want them IN BED at 7 and if that means no bath or story then that’s how it is!
Naps are my thing, too. And, if I’m allowed a secondary thing, it’s food/feeding. Henry is A DELIGHT when he’s well rested and well fed and he’s not so much of a delight when he’s tired and/or hungry.
Sleep is my thing, too. My parents think I’m crazy and I need to lighten up – ORILY? Do you want to deal with my child when she goes to bed late or when she doesn’t nap? Because she still wakes up at the same time each morning, regardless of when we put her down for the night. So if that means 7:30 in the crib rather than 8/8:30 and you have to shorten your time with her? Too bad, because she’d be a nightmare the next day.
Naps, oh naps. Sadie takes a fairly reliable 2.5 – 3 hour nap at home and it makes for a happy girl so we do what we can to protect that. Taking a car ride right before lunch/nap? Someone sits in back with her to keep her up. Crazy? Perhaps. But man it makes those hours awake with her much better.
WORD. I call myself the Sleep Nazi because naps and bedtime do NOT get messed with around our house. I know other people who skip naps routinely, or put their toddlers to bed at all different hours, but we need the routine and the consistent sleep to be happy in our house. We’ve skipped a nap here and there (or he’s had a few nap strikes over the years) and he’s actually been OK behavior-wise, but I strongly believe sleep plays a huge part in brain development so it’s important. Also, as parents we need the consistency too. I need to have the nap time/consistent bedtime for my sanity. I need alone time. I will be sad when he stops napping, but hope I can at least keep “quiet time” in his room for a little while after that.
Other people don’t feed their kids sugar or anything that’s not organic, and that’s their thing. Pass the cookies, just let him sleep. 🙂