Stealth Napper

When our first born started staying awake through nap time, I had a serious panic attack. My mother said "maybe it's time to give up the nap."  As calmly as I could, I yelled at her "I NEED THE NAP. WE WILL NOT GIVE UP THE NAP. I CAN'T MAKE IT WITHOUT THE NAP"  We spent weeks on end fighting for two hours in the afternoon before she'd give in and take a nap. Then at bedtime, she had plenty of energy to fight me for another good two hours. Eventually, I saw the light and figured out that without the nap, I'd save on about four hours of futility, and at least bed time would be peaceful. I just had to be brave enough to figure out how to make it through the day without a break.

When our second was old enough to make it through the day, in good spirits, I had no problem giving up the nap. In fact, naps have become a source of fear.  Troy and I take turns reading and putting the girls to bed so we get one-on-one time with each of them every night.  You can tell whose night it is to read to Maggie around 3:30 in the afternoon. It's the parent frantically saying "Don't let her fall asleep!!"

If you walk out of the room for even a minute, and it gets quiet...well, it could be all over. Sure, you think your precious bear cub is playing nicely with some puzzles and she's not even near her favorite place on the couch, so you feel confident that you can go to the bathroom without her falling asleep. But you'd be wrong.

 

This is what they mean when they say "It's the quiet ones that you have to keep an eye on."