Sweet Dreams are Made of This

Recently The Mister and I have had a shift in our schedules.  He got a promotion (go baby!) and I continue to work my normal schedule.  This means The Nugget has entered daycare for about 3 hours a day because The Mister works afternoons/evenings and I work days.  The Nugget goes to daycare from 1:00PM-4:00PM four days a week.  The entrance into this setting caused the cursory gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands, tears and anxiety for all, but she has actually settled in quite nicely and very much enjoys her outings to see her friends.

Our big problem is that The Nugget's normal nap time falls about 2:00PM.  When I say "normal", I mean this is the schedule that she has set for herself over the course of time.  She just tends to get tired about that time of day.  With the daycare schedule as it is, she is now arriving for a play date when she would normally be napping.  Knowing this going into the situation, I attempted to plan accordingly.

Our first plan of attack was to have a snack upon returning home and then take a short nap (30-45 minutes).  WRONG.  She kept waking up a whining, fussing wreck.  Okay, we'll try for an hour.  WRONG.  If possible, even a whinier, grumpier mess.  Okay...I guess I'll try letting her sleep as long as she feels like (which, up to this point in her life, is what she is used to).  WRONG.  Is it possible that she is an even WHINIER, fussier child than ever?  FRICK!

I don't see The Nugget a lot on weekdays.  The first time I see her Monday-Friday is when I get home at 4:00PM.  She is in bed by 8:00PM.  I don't want to spend the little time I have with her yelling, "Cut it out!  You're pissing me off driving me crazy!"  Whining is just one of those behaviors I have very.  little. tolerance for.  It's like everything reduces her to a puddle of goo with the tears and the kicking and the wah wah wah.  The kid is quite verbally astute, so the whining is even more superfluous because she knows the words for anything she wants or needs.

So, I'm trying to drop the nap.  I, like many parents, was hoping she would nap until at least age 17, but it's just not working for us anymore.  Last night was our first trial, and she had such a great night!  It was clear she was a bit tired, but SO much more pleasant and easy to be with.  I liked hanging out with her again.  I adjusted her bed time earlier to help make up for any lost sleep, and she went down without a hitch and did great.  We'll keep trying this approach; it sure makes us both a lot happier!  Of course, I'll miss my nap time to get projects done while she naps, but this trade off will save my sanity.

And now, gratuitous cuteness from Halloween:

My pumpkin fairy!

Comments

  1. UnknownNovember 17, 2010 at 7:57 PM

    I'm dreading the loss of the afternoon nap. It's on it's way out - I can tell. So sorry we missed the Fall party. We were able to find a nice old used car to replace the deer-smashed-up Matrix. Hope to see you sometime soon. I've taken on 3 part-time jobs (temporarily), so it may be a while :)

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