I have been given a wonderful gift, friends, one which I do not take for granted. Or at least not anymore. Because for many years, I was blessed with predictable, consistent, deep, LONG nappers.
My daughter has always been the type to go to sleep when she’s tired, and girl needs that beauty rest. She took 2-3 hour afternoon naps through preschool, and she even napped for an hour or more after school through 1st grade! My sons are the type that would make me regret skipping nap time if I thought they could handle a full day at the zoo, so we surrendered to our life of strict routine, forever owned by that great clock in the sky that turns napless children into tiny werewolves after 4pm.
Of course, being a strict napping family meant we couldn’t make that 12:30 playdate, because we would be deep into our routine of tummy tickles and lullabies by then, and we simply could not compromise. We went to Disney World with my family a few years ago, and we had to leave after lunch to get in a quick three hour nap. Between the commute time and those ridiculous lines to get on the dadgum tram, we lost most of the day that we paid good money for, but it was worth it to not kill each other or ourselves before the day was out.
Those hours may have been inconvenient, but they were glorious. I cleaned and prepped meals and organized closets. I made crafts, read books, and let’s not forget that one week where I watched all six seasons of “Dawson’s Creek” on Netflix during nap time. (I have no regrets.) Best of all, though, I often actually napped during nap time! In the summers, I would go lay out on the slide in our backyard and get a tan while I snoozed in the sun. During warm spring showers, I would lay on the screened-in patio and drift off to the music of rain hitting the deck right outside. In the winter I would pile all the cozy blankets on the couch while I sipped my microwaved-from-room-temperature coffee I originally made at 6am and fall asleep in my great, soft cocoon.
Many afternoons, I would have a plan for what I was going to cook or clean or make or do, then a sweet, small boy would look up at me with sleepy eyes and whisper, “Mommy? Oo way iff me?” And I would have no choice – not that I needed one – but to say, “Yes, my prince, of course I will lay with you.” I would lay my head down on the pillow of his twin bed facing in so I could watch if he was really closing his eyes. He wrapped his tiny arms around my neck and pulled my face in so close that our noses were touching. Curled up with knees bent, his little body fit perfectly into the curve of mine as we laid there together like a ying and yang, resting in the delicate balance of peace and wild, old and young, mommy and toddler.
A few months ago that boy started kindergarten, and thus began the end of our daily naps. His older sister finally decided that seven years old was too grown for a nap, and we couldn’t manage to keep it a secret, so 5-year-old ditched his too. The 4-year-old napped for a few weeks without the older two, but when he woke up and realized his siblings were home from school and napless, he started refusing to lay down in the first place. Of course I still have the baby, going strong with those naps at seven months old!…But it’s not the same. With big brother around, there’s no deep cleaning or grown-up TV watching or patio napping for me.
Sometimes – though it may be a mom fail for the preschooler, it’s worth the risk of melting his brain – sometimes I put on a long movie or give big brother the iPad while I take that sweet baby into my room, lay down on the bed with him, and snuggle our little hearts out. Because watching our kids grow up really is the stuff of R&B hits, and it’s just so hard to say goodbye to yesterday…
