Everyone keeps telling me to "sleep when he's sleeping" and I totally understand why. I'm more like a walking zombie than an intelligent capable woman. Probably a lot of sleep would get me closer to intelligent and capable....or maybe it would get me closer to frumpy, tired, hung-over, disheveled mom who never gets out of her bathrobe. That's my fear.
I'm bad at napping. And I'm scared of being good at it (see the bathrobe result above...). So I really haven't even tried.
It's just that every time he sleeps I have to make a choice: shower or nap? dishes or nap? eat or nap? laundry or nap? me-time or nap? pee or nap?
So far I've showered every day, we still have clean dishes, I'm far from starving to death, there is only one pile of bodily fluids laundry to do, and I've read a lot of Mitford.
I brag simply to prove why I don't choose "nap". If I napped every day I would be smelly, with science projects growing in my sink while I wither away to practically nothing (ha ha ha....that's funny because...nevermind. It's not funny.), surrounded by piles of laundry soaked in mystery fluid, wiping my kids mouth with a dirty burp cloth (because no matter how many I have it isn't enough) and I would not have read even one sentence of my Mitford books and Father Tim would have one less 20-something year old girl in love with him. And my bladder would have exploded long ago. Tragedy I tell you.
It's just that I haven't learned to do the things that are basic requirements while the child is awake. His awake time is spent rocking him, cuddling him, loving him, and looking at how much his tiny little fingers have grown! Not to mention the changing, nail clipping, feeding and dressing him that all have to happen when he's already screaming....
I know that there are people out there with more than 1 kid, and here's my question: what if they don't all nap at once?!?!?! Heaven forbid.
You should come to my house and see all of the smelly piles of science projects. LOL!! I decided that for survival of myself and my family I need a nap every day (at least that the boys are in school). My motivation is a little different I suppose, since it keeps me from puking and it lets me escape the never ending need to eat. But I do have the days that I would rather read.
ReplyDeleteBTW Father Tim and I are old friends from when I had my first baby. Good books, good times.
Good luck! Also, you can do whatever you want as far as napping. I always find it hard to nap after I have a baby too.
Oh why is the list of things to do during nap time so long? I usually pick the "to do list" over the nap...but eventually it catches up to you and you have to nap! And since my two year old has decided not to nap...well, I pop in a movie and nap anyway!
ReplyDeleteNapping will help, I PROMISE! I tried to do everything at first with Jerimiah too. Even a 10-15 minute power nap can help sometimes. Nap when you can, the dishes won't grow science projects from taking ONE nap a day. Trust me!
ReplyDeleteI nap. Housework is for husband. I just push babies out.
ReplyDeleteWhen he's willing to switch up roles...
Of course I have my mother-in-law here all day which basically ensures nap time (and cookies).
I seriously wish you would have had Thomas before I had Isaac. I think I would have been more prepared for the first month home by reading your blog - I love it and you seriously capture so many of the things that I went through (that nobody warned me about earlier). Have you ever thought about writing a book??? Just something I think you should consider. :)
ReplyDeleteYou train them to nap at the same time, silly! The trouble comes when they grow out of the naps. There is a clear reason why Gabe is in afternoon kindergarten...
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