Skip to main content

The anti-napper

I am convinced my son is the anti-napper.
He must be like Oprah and not need much sleep. Most nights I am asleep before him. Currently, let's blame this on the homestretch of pregnancy. During the school year I will blame it on a 5:45 am alarm setting...but I have always needed at least 8 hours. I think toddlers are supposed to need like 12, but O is out to prove them wrong.
I do wake up before him, but only because I tend to wake up when Shaun leaves. Kicking begins, I have to pee and am famished. So I get up and squeeze in 15-20 minutes or reading, blogging or unanimated TV before O rolls out of his bed ( usually still before 8 am) requesting strawberry cow milk and a poptart ( or something equally un-healthy which I will glady give him for another 15-20 minutes of reading, blogging, or brushing my teeth in peace).
Then I spend the next 5+ hours trying to exhaust him so I can get a nap in. I think I can nap while he naps, wake up an hour before he does and get something productive done ( like my lack of a nursury that I have exactly 2 months to get done!).
For example on Wednesday we went to the zoo. Yes, it was triple digits. No, I did not take a stroller. I made my poor son walk ( mostly he ran). We sweated and walked until my back ached. We grabbed a quick bite to eat. I seriously expected him to be out cold before ever getting on I-30. I had much in my favor: heat, lots of sweaty exercize and a decent length car ride home. We get home wide awake ( well O was wide awake NOT ME!). I plopped him on my bed, turned on some cartoons and expected him to be out within 10 minutes. 30 minutes later......when I woke up he was jumping up and down on the bed. He told me it was snack time and asked to go play outside. I was so warn out at this point. NOTHING got done. I planted myself on the couch while he destroyed the house. Leftovers for dinner
Thursday was going to be better.
-Weekly shopping at WalMart ( this alone is enough to wear me out)
-storytime at the local library ( ok, not strenuous, but lots of kids can be draining right....at least for me)
-quick stop at the playground on the way home (it is sooooooo hot).
-play w/ playdo ( took about 3 minutes to mix all the colors together and be bored)
-lunch
-color ( lasted slightly longer than the playdo, and could have gone on for hours had I let him color the furniture and/or floor...i seriously considered this before taking them away)
-was going to try for a nap at 1 but realized he was no where near "rest" ready.
-so we went to the pool.
The pool always does the trick, and this time he did indeed nap...or atleast when I woke up from my quick snooze he was asleep.
Once again I was sooooo exhausted I couldn't do much even after my breif nap.
Leftovers for dinner again. I had meant to pick up the living room .....instead I took O back to the playground while Shaun cleaned.

I am wondering how to exhaust my kid w/out exhausting myself......How many days until school starts? That has to be more relaxing than this.....even 9 months pregnant.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

multiple choice

As I write I am procturing a test ( yes on a Saturday, and no I am not getting paid for it.) The room is silent. The only noises I hear are pencils scratching on papers and pages turning. If I listen closely enough I swear I can hear their brains turning. I have always been a good test-taker. I would still regularly brag about my SAT scores if it wre socially appropriate to do so(or an actual indicator of anything meaningful). There is something comforting about multiple choice. (well as long as you don't have the crappy all of the above or none of the above choices...just the classic A, B, C, D variety). There are parameters. Multiple choice means you have options. The right answer is right in front of you, and all you have to do is find it. Even if you don't actually know which one the right answer is there are usually clues, it can be narrowed down or worked backwards. Even a blind guess is likely to be right 25% of the time. These aren't bad odds. All you have t...

Turning the question

My school has been sending me to some inquiry training. The “i” word has been thrown around since my education classes in college. It is one of those things that is really good as a concept but kind of hard to pull off in the classroom well. For lots of reasons. But the big one number is because teachers are reluctant to let go of the control. To let the kids loose with a concept and see where they end up. Let them discover, own it and share out all on their own. Without intervening. Then push them a little bit further and clear up any misconceptions that they are holding onto before they slip out your door. This is supposed to be the most meaningful way for a kid to learn. For them to discover rather than memorize. One of the other problems with inquiry and science is that kids have stopped learning how to ask questions. My son bombards me with whys all day long. Why are owls nocturnal? (which comes out a lot more like “not-turtles”) Why do I have to take a shower? Why ...

pursue something else.

Americans like the idea of happy. of pursuing happiness. It is even one of our inalienable rights at least according to the Declaration of Independance. But I think maybe we should pursue something else. like love or joy or peace or contentment. and leave happy alone. Don't read me wrong. I am neither bitter nor cynical. Even my problems are good problems. I am positive. Half full. And most days I laugh a whole lot more than I cry. And simple things like a dance party in the living room, an hour alone in Barnes and Noble, the yellow pajama pants my son picked out for me for mother's day, potstickers, clean sheets, someone surprising me with coffee, jeans fresh from the dryer, a good song on the radio, or squeals of delight when I walk in the door all make my heart sing. They make me happy. For a minute. But when the squealing turns to screaming, my new pants are dirty, the sheets are in a jumble on the floor or the coffee runs out....where does that leave me? And happy isn'...