Naptime-a mother's holy grail!

I confess, my son's naptime is my favorite time of day. Of course, my days staying home with 'A' are filled with many, many wonderful moments! But nothing, I mean nothing, beats that naptime feeling.


I've decided that naptime is a mother's holy grail. We are all in search of it. It's that perfect time of day when everything is calm and quiet and we can actually get things done or even possibly GASP, relax-and drink an actual hot cup of coffee! Our cranky kids can rest up while we can get a chance to regroup.


Naptime can also make for a stressful time though. Lord knows how many times I've sat downstairs by the baby monitor for over an hour, biting my nails and praying my son would fall asleep. Then there were those horrifying moments when I realized that he was not going to ever fall asleep and nap would be forfeited for the day. When that happens, I usually try to comfort myself by mentally filling up the rest of the day with activities and telling myself I can put him to bed at 6:30pm to make up for his lack of nap. (6:30 almost never happens by the way!)


I am fortunate enough to have a good napper. When A was a baby, he used to take 3 hours naps in his swing every morning. I didn't switch him to one nap a day until he was over 18 months and the only reason I did it was because my husband and I were living in different states at the time and I wanted to put my son to bed earlier at night. Even now that he is almost 3, he takes 2 and 3 hour naps almost every afternoon. But I do have friends who struggle with naptime. Either their kids don't want to nap, will only nap with mommy, nap too long (and won't go to bed at night), or don't nap long enough. I'm telling you- a mother's holy grail!!!


My biggest problem is the amount of time it takes my son to fall asleep. He will play up in his bed for over an hour some days before he will finally pass out. This isn't always a bad thing. After all, it gives me an extra hour to get things done while he winds down.


 However, there have been some days that this has been a big problem. Like the days he plays so long that I have to give up hope that he will fall asleep. Or-the worst times- before he was potty trained and would poop in his diaper while waiting to fall asleep. Oh yea, these were the WORST. Three times, I walked into his room to see him covered in shit. NO joke. Apparently he got bored in his room and the crap in his diaper gave him an opportunity to play with something and stay awake longer. A special shout out to all my mommy (or daddy) readers who understand what I'm talking about. 


 Luckily, the first time it happened, hubby was home! I smelled something funny upstairs so I decided to peek in on A. As soon as I opened the door, I caught a whiff and that's when I knew. I screamed for my husband and we both sprung into action. Hubby bathed our boy while I got the fun job of changing the sheets and wiping down the crib slats. Ugh. We are so lucky neither one of us has a weak stomach. The second time it happened, hubby was at work. I remember opening the door to the nursery in horror. This time, there was no one to scream for. I seriously contemplated shutting the door and running like hell. That probably would have earned me the title of most horrible mother, so instead, I sucked it up and cleaned it up. I did try to call hubby and bitch to him so he could share in some of the joy with me. He's a smart man because he didn't end up answering his phone. (Pretty sure I left a frantic and/or teary voicemail though...)


The third, and final time this happened, my mother in law was visiting and all three of us were here. While it was extremely embarrassing that this happened in front of her (don't want him labeled as the 'gross' grandchild!), it was great that she was here to help. She remained the calmest out of all of us and threw him in the tub. Once again, I got the pleasure of cleaning the sheets and the crib. 


Moral of this story, think twice when buying a white crib. Also- when it's taking your kid a long long time to fall asleep for nap, make sure you check on them. Or even better, buy one of those fancy video baby monitors. 


Are you a mother in search of the naptime holy grail? Is naptime also your favorite part of the day? I am dreading the day my son drops his nap! Anyone out there who can relate??