A Mom Created Naptime

Looking down at my sweet angel's face, I can almost see the dreams that she's having behind her closed eyes. And my son is so stinking cute when he's sprawled all over his bed and cuddling with his favorite blanket. The peacefulness makes me feel this close to forgetting about the chaos from this morning. But then I walk out to the living room and see small scraps of food stuck to the floor, building blocks stacked behind the entertainment center, and little bits of my sanity strewn across the rug. It ain't pretty.

Some baby experts will tell you that babies NEED naps. Babies grow when they're sleeping, they need that time to re-energize, blah, blah, blah. I'm going to tell you that babies need naps because mommies have been training them to do so since the beginning of time. Picture a cave-woman mom sitting around the fire, holding her precious little bundle of joy. She tells the baby, "Ugh, uggghhh, uh, gug." This roughly translates to: I can't take this anymore. Your dad is off building something called a wheel, the pterodactyl just pooped on my dress, I haven't slept in 3 days, I haven't taken a real bath in 3 weeks, and if I don't get some mommy time soon, I'm going to join the pack of t-rexes down the street.

When I lay my kids down for a nap, it's like a mommy-cation. It's a break from constant demands, temper tantrums, shows with sing-a-longs, and food fights. Or just fall into my bed in a deep coma because my body and brain just can't take anymore. Because let's be honest. Whoever came up with the term "Terrible Two's" never had a 3-year old. I can't really say that I blame them.

My sister-in-law told me that my niece stopped taking naps after her 3rd birthday. I swear I puked in my mouth again just typing that out. Because the day that my kids stop taking naps better be the day they start kindergarten. I'm just saying.

Jen