Skip to main content

The Joys Of A Nap

I know a lot of parents say that their kids stop napping right around age two. I've been lucky that my kids still nap, and sometimes for four hours!  It absolutely gets in the way of play dates and outings, but without it, I'm tortured in a slow and painful way. Recently, the only way I can get them to nap is if I rock them. There is something very magical about that rhythmic rocking and clicking of the rocking chair. It's even soothing to me too. I listen to the classical music, I feel my children drifting away on top of me, our breaths start to sync and when they start to twitch when they are truly asleep, there is just something so angelic about their sleeping faces that I just can't let go of. All of the stress from tantrums, the day, or the battle we had about food is gone. When I see their sleeping faces, the slate is wiped clean. I know that rocking them to sleep is not going to help them sleep in their own beds and I know it's not going to make my night time battles any easier, but there's something I can't let go of.

Sleepy, sick babies
When they were first born, I literally spent the first six weeks of their lives holding them. I just couldn't put them down. I didn't want to. Not for fear that something bad would happen, but because I couldn't get enough of their smell, their soft skin, and the way they nestled right down into me. I loved how they curled up, so tiny in my arms and I could just stare at them. As they grew I tried to sleep train them and even was successful for a while, but when Theo was born things kind of changed. We started rocking more and doing a few more snuggles before bed. It was nice, it was a way to have some one on one time with Hank and it was a way to hang on to that babyness that was too quickly fading away.




Now that they are three and 17 months, I have rediscovered the wonder of the rocking chair. I actually just ordered a new one for our new house because it's a sure way to get them both to sleep in a matter of minutes. I sit here with one of them (or both of them on occasion) in my arms and I'm faced with all sorts of choices: put them down, clean up, take a shower, pee, exercise, eat.... as my arm starts to tingle I readjust them and I'm given an opportunity to make a break for it, but just then, they yawn and snuggle in deeper. I could just sit here. I could just hold you. I could just fall asleep and enjoy the few minutes I have where you're quiet and I'm able to take a break, rest my eyes, listen to Vivaldi and rock, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. Oh my gosh, I'm the crazy mother in Love You Forever by Robert N. Munsch! I'm the parent that can't let go of their children! Perhaps, but I like to think it's because when they are sleeping, and sleeping in my arms, I'm given the opportunity to study them and get to know them like I did when they were first born. As they grow and change, as they resist hugs and kisses, or even defy me; they allow me this one time a day to treat them like a baby and coddle them. They show me that they despite all of their attempts at independence, they still love me, they still need me and they still want to have me around. 

The only way I could get them to nap at age 4 weeks and 21 months
I know it won't last forever, and if there is one thing that I regret about having a second child, it's the fact that I couldn't sit and hold him for as long as I wanted to. So when I've had a few rough days fighting with my preschoolers, I'm taking the joy of the ever important nap and taking advantage of it fully in ways my children will only know when they too become parents.

Best friends.

Popular posts from this blog

Father's Day: A note to my Husband

Honey,  As I scramble around trying to find the perfect last minute Father’s Day gift for you, my father, my step-father, and your dad, I realized that for the last three years, your sons haven’t spent Father’s Day with their Dad. I have been with mine- all of mine,  but they haven’t been with theirs. The past three years of our life have been filled with struggle and separation, not due to marriage issues, but due to the military and the fact that sometimes, Dad’s have to be gone. When you are as young as the boys, sometimes that’s hard to understand, but now at age 5, our oldest is starting to figure it out. He often asks where you are or what you are doing. He questions why his dad has to be gone, and I am sure, that when Father’s Day finally arrives, we will have some issues to sort through with them. We’ve already sent the Father’s Day cards, but that was weeks ago to ensure that they arrived on time. But on Sunday, when they see kids with their Dad at the park or see ...
Read more

Untitled- Part Two

NOTE: This is an old post, from five years ago and I wanted to honor every woman and man who have felt pain from a miscarriage.  We found out today that I did in fact miscarry.  There aren’t really words to describe how I feel right now: anger, sadness, and exhaustion (both mentally and physically) are just a few of the emotions I’ve gone through these past few hours.  While I still clung on for hope that everything would be okay, I tried to prepare myself for this moment, but you can never really be prepared for the phrase, “complete miscarriage”.  This morning, after my shower, I stood for a long time just looking at myself in the fogged up mirror. I had already been in to the doctor for the lab work and was just waiting for results now. I examined my body up and down trying to figure out where we went wrong. I found nothing. I looked at my tired eyes and my long face trying to find that glimpse of hope that I had a few days ago. There was none. ...
Read more

A Letter To My Introvert From your Extrovert Mother

Son, As we reach Spring Break I am baffled by how quickly your first year of school has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was crying when I dropped you off at Pre-school and now, we're approaching our last day of Kindergarten. I promise you, it will be here before you know it. I am in awe of you as you come home with such an amazing vocabulary, a deep love of your "School Brother," and how you talk about how much you like all your classmates. I love how you refuse to do "Kiss-and-Go" and insist I walk you to the door, give you a hug, a kiss and give each other our little signal that says, "I love you". You walk into school so confidently, so proud, so excited for each day, even though you swear you want to stay home and spend the day with me (and by the way, I'm still flattered to hear that). When you go in that building, you are a different person than you are at home. You are confident, you are free from your brother, you are able to experime...
Read more