Like many mothers out there, nap time is a daily challenge.
We’ve been attempting to switch from one nap a day to two. Today, however, Little C opted for ZERO naps.
Oh what a delightful twist to the day!
Technically, C fell asleep for 15 minutes on the way home from swim class, but that hardly qualifies as a nap. I did try to transition it into a nap, though. A very stinky diaper disrupted that plan.
Also, for some reason, I felt compelled to change C’s usual napping spot from the big bed to his crib. C needs to spend more time in his crib and less time in my bed, end of story! It’s a point that needs to be made.
Did I need to choose this particular afternoon to make that point?
(the answer is no)
I do, honestly, need my son to sleep in his crib more so I can have a little more time to myself for things like taking showers and eating dinner, not to mention doing chores. But let’s focus on the shower thing.
I need to shower. In fact, I would like to shower daily. I’m spending quite a bit of time every day in a heavily chlorinated pool. And I’m a blond. I would prefer not to look like Oscar the Grouch as my hair turns green from the chlorine. I may not have much of a life, but I would really like to have non-green hair for the few events I go to.
Part of maintaining my blond hair means showering and shampooing every day. I know, sounds simple, right?
Not so much.
When C was taking two naps a day, showering was easy-peasy. I had two solid blocks of time in which to get things done. A shower easily fit into one of these two blocks.
However, with one less nap a day and the same amount of chores to be done, my hair care seems to be the first thing to be ignored. An additional part of the problem is that as C sleeps on the big bed I need to keep an eye on him, lest he roll off while I’m showering, cleaning, etc.
If he would only sleep in his crib…so many things would be better….hair care is only one of them.
So back to the nap that wasn’t.
It failed to start at 2:30pm (since we’re just doing one nap I’m trying to get it in before 4pm; this doesn’t always work, but I try).
From 2:30 to 4:30 I struggled with C, sometimes physically, always with my emotions.
Every time I felt close to losing it, I would say “naptime” as if it was some kind of release valve. It usually sent C into another round of crying/screaming/whining, as I attempted to get him to lay down in his crib. I was literally holding his shoulder down on the pillow!
This may sound mean, but I promise I didn’t hurt him. It was just as soon as he sat up he would start acting in a manner very contrary to napping! C would start talking to his teddy bear or the lullaby lamby that hangs on his crib. He would start touching every single bump in his mattress over and over again, pushing each lump as if it was a button. Or maybe he would stand up and start dragging his pacificer back and forth across the wall.
And as soon as I peeked my head in to see what he was doing, C would stop, look up and smile.
Lovely.
Once 4:30 rolled around and C wasn’t even acting tired any more, I decided he would just have to take a shower with me.
So I striped him down and took him in the shower with me. And let me tell you there is nothing more pitiful than a wet, naked, crying baby.
For the first 10 minutes of the shower, C just stood there crying. Well, actually, alternating between screaming and crying. If I tried to wash his hair or his face or anything, he quickly accelerated to screaming. If the shampoo bottle he was gripping as if it was the key to escape, if that fell to the ground, more screaming. If as he came towards me for comfort, a stream of water jetted off my body into his face, more screaming.
Finally, C settled down, once he discovered the amazing drain! I knew this would eventually happen, since he loves the bathtub drain and likes to watch every last drop of water go out. I knew the shower drain would be all the more fascinating for its constant draining. At last, C sat in the middle of the shower and watched suds and water quickly disappear.
Yay! It was fun! So much fun that C spent 5 minutes playing with the drain after I turned off the shower. It allowed me to dry off, dress, comb my hair.
When I finally gathered my boy in a large towel and swept him off to his room to be changed, suddenly C was very tired.
As soon as he was dressed he ran down the hallway, pulled himself up on the big bed, and jumped on the pillows, ready for a nap.
ARGH!
The Modern Mrs. 