Parenting
Hooray for Nap Time!
by Lily Thompson
Updated: Aug. 21, 2015
Originally Published: April 16, 2013
Parenting is a journey without a guidebook. When explaining it to those who haven’t experienced it, I often liken it to being a scientist. Each child, at various stages of their development, resembles formulating a hypothesis that you must then either prove or disprove. Each day, you don your “lab coat” (a.k.a. yoga pants), gather your “Bunsen burners” (microwave), and fill your “beakers” (baby bottles) while carefully documenting your observations (those post-it notes cluttering the fridge).
Dropping my three-year-old’s afternoon nap over the summer was a monumental blunder. It’s a hypothesis that my toddler’s behavior has firmly disproved. I admit it: I messed up. He was simply not ready to give up that crucial nap.
The tricky part about kids, unlike scientific data, is that they are sentient beings. You can only adjust them so much; you can’t exactly skew human behavior like you would with research findings. Once that bell is rung, it cannot be unrung. I’ve opened the door to the no-nap universe, and there’s no going back now.
When planning our summer, we opted to enroll both of our older children in the same day camp. My 9-year-old loves it, so it seemed logical for his little brother to join as well. The only snag? Camp ends at 3:45 PM, a full 45 minutes after my toddler’s usual naptime.
“No worries,” I told myself. “He can handle it.” Silly, naive me—naps are essential for three-year-olds.
A month into camp, although my toddler enjoys being a “big boy” with his new friends, he returns home cranky and worn out. Convincing him to lie down and relax at 4 PM is a lost cause. While he’s occasionally dozed off on the car ride home, those occurrences are few and far between. Even when he does fall asleep in the car, he has stayed asleep inside the house only once.
To put it bluntly…I’m in trouble.
Afternoon naps were a win-win for everyone. My toddler would get the rest he desperately needed, waking up ready to unleash his energy on the world, and I gained two glorious hours of peace. I could accomplish so much during that time! Now, I look back fondly on those nap-filled afternoons before I foolishly thought I could manage life without them.
To all of you still blessed with a napping child, I implore you: cherish this precious time! Channel your inner Jack from Titanic and “never let go.” Forget about “letting it go.” I share this advice because I want to spare you from the exhausting evenings filled with tears and tantrums that I now endure. No one should have to deal with a three-year-old clinging to their leg, wailing, “MOMMY!!! MOOOMYYY!! I WANT MOMMY!!!” for what feels like an eternity while you attempt to cook dinner and your partner is stuck in traffic.
This is a public service announcement: learn from my misstep. Hooray for nap time!
This article was originally published on April 16, 2013.
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Summary:
Parenting is an unpredictable journey, often resembling a scientific experiment. The author shares her regret over prematurely ending her toddler’s nap time, which led to cranky evenings and chaos. She urges parents to value those precious nap hours for the well-being of both children and parents.
Keyphrase: Hooray for Nap Time
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