I'm not the best multitasker out there, so naptime for the kids tends to be try-to-get-as-much-stuff-done-as-I-can-before-the-kids-wake-up time for Dad. If I don't get enough done during naptime, the day feels wasted to me.
Right around the time she turned three, Ellie decided she wasn't taking naps anymore. That was a very sad day in our household. As were all of the subsequent evenings in our home for months after that. You see, even though we couldn't get her to take a nap anymore, her body still needed it. She was sooooooo grumpy most evenings, due to the sudden nap deficiency, but there was just no swaying her on the topic.
Aside from the resultant increase in overall grumpiness levels, the other consequence of the cessation of napation was a crippling blow to parental naptime productivity. I mention this because, despite my best efforts to convince him otherwise, Cam (now almost 3) is getting to that same point now. He is at the same age Ellie was when she stopped, and he has been resisting naptime more and more with each passing day. While he has been doing pretty well when awake during the would be naptime, the real problem comes a few hours later; Sometime after 4:00 he starts to get really grumpy, and those last few hours of wakefulness are just a blur of unpleasantness. Anyway, I want to find a way to stop the tide of inevitability on this one, but I'm afraid that this is really just a losing battle.
The bright side, I think that having both he and Ellie awake during naptime is easier than it was when Ellie starting skipping naps, since they can keep each other occupied somewhat.
Naptime, thank you for all that you've done for us. We love you, and even though you'll be gone, you'll still be with us in our hearts (cue montage of naptime, set to Boys II Men's "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye").
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