My days with Bridget go one of either two ways:
She either doesn’t nap, which means she’s a kid on crack by 3PM, but asleep between the heavenly hour of 6:30 or 7:00 PM each night,
or
She does nap, which means she’s up until 9:00 or 10:00 PM.
I don’t know which is the lesser of the two evils. If Bridget doesn’t nap during the day and ends up going to bed early, those few hours without a kid hanging off my body or requesting water or apples every five minutes before I go to bed is bliss. I can watch the season finale of NCIS without interruption.
On the other hand, if she does nap during the day, I usually have a whoppin’ 30-45 minutes of uninterrupted time before the big kids get home from school during which to answer emails and complete a little work. Ocassionally, I will forage for food and indulge without my children requesting a bite, because nothing is worse than your kid taking the last cheese stick when you really wanted one for yourself or having to share leftover pizza.
There are times when I have to wake up Bridget, especially if the 2-hour nap mark is approaching. Some kids can sleep half the afternoon and still manage to go to bed at a reasonable hour. Hannah was just such a kid. She loves her sleep even now. Bridget, on the other hand, could take a 15-minute nap and be energized for the next year.
But there are always certain risks associated with waking Bridget on my terms. The biggest risk is that she will get up on the proverbial wrong side of the bed, which often happens. And trust me, you don’t want to be anywhere near her when she’s in a mood.
Today was one of those days when I had to wake Bridget early. She fell asleep at 1:30, and the house was blessedly quiet until 2:15 when the older kids came charging through the front door demanding to be fed. At 2:30, I opened Bridget’s bedroom door and basically told Hannah and Jacob to make as much noise as they possibly could. Funny that they would choose today to act like civilized children and play quiet games.
At 3:00, and hour and a half into the nap, I began kissing Bridget on her cheeks and forehead. However, it was apparent by her open-mouthed expression and REM that she was deep in sleep. 3:24, and I’m getting nervous.
more kissing
a little movement
more kissing
“Bridget . . . .”
a swipe of the hand. “Mommy, don’t TALK to me!”
Lovely.
But then I spied something across the street in our neighbor’s yard. A big yellow digger. Bridget loves construction vehicles. I wonder . . .
“Bridget, it looks like there’s a digger across the street.”
And just like that, she was up and feeling fine, the last vestiges of sleep shaken away. “Wow! Look at that!”
I dodged a bullet today. To say that I am nervous about waking up my child is an understatement.
10 comments
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May 21, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Debbie Yost
I know what you mean. My older two had given up the nap by 2 1/2 but Peanut for the time being still naps. There’s that period when you think they are done with naps but you have to be careful they don’t fall asleep at 5:00 because they are cranky and won’t go to bed. Peanut still needs her nap and I am reluctant to give them up. HOWEVER, 9 times out of 10 she wakes up whining and clingy and inconsolable. It takes anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour to get her out of her funk so the question is, was that nap worth it? But, for her, I know it was.
May 21, 2008 at 6:41 pm
April
ugh - the issues of kids possibly waking up on the wrong side of the bed still hasn’t gone away for me. I don’t think it ever will. But it does make me appreciate the pleasant mornings all the moreso!
May 21, 2008 at 7:47 pm
Debi
I was never lucky enough to have a preschooler who napped at all. Annie gave up naps just days after her 2nd birthday, Max at 2 years 3 months. Even as a baby, Gray never napped. Well, not like normal babies anyway…20 minutes was a rare treat, I kid you not! And he still doesn’t sleep like a normal person…he’s up so much during the night. Which is probably why by morning when he has to get up he’s such a grump. We call him our prickly little porcupine.
Anyway, I’m glad you dodged a bullet today!
May 21, 2008 at 8:59 pm
Stephanie
I actually am having a similar experience with my daughter. If she naps, she usually goes to bed later (8 or 8:30ish). If she doesn’t nap, she’s veeeerrrrryyyy cranky, but then she goes to be really fast at around 7.
May 22, 2008 at 1:37 am
Corey
oh my word….this had me giggling.
I personally think having to wake a sleeping child is just plain wrong.
May 22, 2008 at 7:55 am
kristi
It sounds like Bridget and I are both grumps when we wake up.
I have always been paranoid about letting Isabella sleep too long in the afternoon. Of course, she’s a notoriously short napper, and is usually up 1 hour and 30 minutes after her 1pm nap, but if on the VERY odd occasion she sleeps past 3, I always go in and wake her up. Her early bedtime is too precious to me to compromise!
May 22, 2008 at 9:02 am
gary
each of your children is so different!
May 22, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Audrey - Pinks & Blues Girls
OMG! This is exactly what it was like with William!! You crack me up… I actually remember it got so bad that he was not napping and not falling asleep until after midnight!! He would be up through half of Jay Leno!! It was NUTS! Hang in their mama… !!
xo,
Audrey
May 22, 2008 at 4:00 pm
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June 2, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Mary
I have one of those, too. She needs a nap but the nap messes up so much of the afternoon and evening for her (and us) that it’s just not worth it. I like to call it “Attack of the Crankmonster.”