The upside of losing naps
Having naps snatched away from us was brutal and unforgiving. Admittedly I did damn well to hang on to them for 3 years, 1 month and 20 days… approximately.
It was an art form. A push around the village for twenty minutes in the buggy, an additional 1000 steps on my Fitbit and then two and half hours of blissful snooze. Alternatively there was a drive around the forest loop with the heating on and bingo… text to the husband, cuppa on the driveway where I caught up with all my socials and he slept.
That was my afternoon catered for. Two hour of zero demands. And he still went to bed without drama and slept from 8-6:30+. Karma – you have been kind.
I’m aware this made me a very lucky woman. I’m also aware that other mums, for whom naps departed at the age of two or were juggling more than one little person, probably wanted to stick hot pins in my eyes.
GLORY DAYS
But my friends, the glory days are over.
I knew once he started preschool, the routine would be disrupted for good. And rightly so. It’s called preschool for a reason – he’s going to be starting school-proper in a matter of months. He can’t be napping his way through number bonds to ten.
However, the harsh reality of suddenly having to be on fun patrol from 7am till 7pm was daunting – even for one experienced in education and not shy of a tuff tray.
Shares in YouTube may have soared for reasons other than Covid. Basically Harry has single-handedly kept Blippi in business and placed the Paw Patrol pups in pole position for viewing figures. And they have kept me just about sane.
So where the positive in all of this I hear you query? This is supposed to be a lockdown win.
Well, we stumbled upon it by accident a couple of nights ago… the bath was run 15 minutes earlier as he was grumpy and yawning. Which meant stories were done and dusted by the time he’d usually be getting out of the bath. What was this magic? Could it be replicated?
We’ve religiously stuck with the routine of 7pm up for a bath and then 2 or 3 stories before lights out and sleep, for the last two and a half years. Despite some blips, which we battled our way through (see ‘Things That Go Wahhh And Bump In The Night’), we’d always have some adult time from 8pm.
But this week the world order changed. After the first 6:45 bath, where he slept through twelve hours solid, we both looked at each other with glee. He has no concept of time. He asks if we can go to the playground for “20 hours” and then settles on 45 minutes thinking he’s won. It’s dark from 4:30pm now. He’s not longer getting that blissful couple of hours of snooze in the day. Hell! Let’s push it to 6:30.
And that folks, is today’s win. I cleared his room without argument, cajoling or even a lullaby by 7:12pm. I’ve had a cup of tea. Finished an episode of bake-off and even had time to bosh out this. One word: GLORIOUS.
Now, if he wakes before 7am on a Sunday then we may have issues but for tonight, I’m tasting sweet freedom.
Why I won today: hoodwinked a toddler to an earlier bedtime.
Have you got a nighttime routine? When did you lose the naps?
The Unyoung Mum 