For those of you that have been reading along, you know that I have been lamenting over our lost naptime. Jude gave up naps a year ago. I tried so many tricks, I woke him up early. I let him stay up later. I walked like a thousand miles with him strapped to my back and finally in a stroller. I even drove, for no reason other than to encourage a nap (I cringe reading that, I do.). There has been a theme of letting go in mothering that has surfaced this week among our tribe. But I have to admit, I really struggled with letting go of naps.
And the real problem is not just about me getting some down time. The problem is Jude really needs a nap. He seems so sleep deprived most of the time. He will have days of crazy behavior and finally crash. Like he did this morning sleeping until 10:15am. These cycles are hard on all of us. Oh the late sleep in is great, but the days leading up to it make me feel like one out of control mama. And yeah, that too is just letting go of expectations that I have about how my child should be, but it is also about a lack of balance that helps our family cohabitate our home in peaceful manner.
So over the last few months I have been on a mission to institute a quiet hour. We have taken walks in the woods. We have picked berries. And we swam in natural water at a cool mountain lake. Today with really high temperatures and a threat of thunderstorms in the forecast, we listened to an audiobook that we picked out from the library. I wasn't sure he would be content to listen to a story without pictures, but he did for an hour. It was heaven. I was listening with him for the first half. He seemed so into it that I decided I could sneak away and do a few things on my own. Ah...a successful nap alternative indeed.
I'd love to hear about any nap alternative tricks you have up your sleeve....
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