Quiet Time

Sydney has always been a good napper.  She prefers to settle down on her own in her crib, without interference from anyone else.  When she started jumping out of her crib, I removed a side rail and it becomes a toddler bed.  The only problem was that suddenly, Sydney had freedom!!  She had a harder time settling down and would play instead of sleep.  Her bedroom door would not close completely, it hadn't for years, so now that she was out of the crib, she could not be contained.  She climbs over baby gates with ease and finds things that are much more fun than naps.

All of this coincided with the beginning of my pregnancy sickness.  Each afternoon, after lunch, all I could think of was taking a nap.  I felt exhausted all the time, no matter how much I slept.  After lunch I was completely spent.  I knew I needed to rest for a bit to be able to help the kids with homework and dinner and have the energy to make it to bedtime.

I dutifully put Sydney down for a nap each day.  I would rock her, read to her, tuck her in and she would immediately get up and leave as soon as I had left the room.  In a desperate attempt to keep her contained and let me rest, started letting her watch movies in my bed with me, so I could doze.  Matt tried to bribe her into taking naps.  I think that only worked once.

When we all got so sick through December, the one benefit was that Sydney started napping regularly again. Hooray!!  (This also coincided with Matt fixing her door so that it shuts properly and she can't get out.)  She naps every day usually for a solid two hours.  Some times we have to rearrange, of course, depending on what we have going on, but she willingly takes a nap and will even tell me she is tired or ready for her nap leading up to nap time!

Now that I am no longer in the throes of first (and partial second) trimester sickness, Sydney's nap time means...quiet time for me!  Each day is different, because Austin is still at home, but on Wednesdays I get my "real" quiet time.  Austin is at preschool during her nap, and so I occasionally take a little nap, but lately I have been feeling good enough to read or do a small project in that time.  It is the best time of the week to read and study my scriptures because the house is completely quiet, (unheard of!) and I am alone.  Usually, I never get more than a few verses in before something interrupts.  I look forward to that two hours all week!  Notice I am writing this post near the tail end of my allotted two hours.   Hurray for quiet time!  Hurray for two year olds that nap!