Nora turns four on Monday. I am not one of those mothers who gets sad at the thought of her child getting older. Three quarters of the fun of parenting is watching your child development and grow.
I am, however, in distress over the loss of nap time.
Nora’s napping only about 3 days a week now. She’s fussier in the evening. And she’s getting sassy. This probably has more to do with being four, but I’m sure lack of sleep isn’t helping matters.
Come to my house any given weeknight to witness some variation of the following scene:
“Nora, it’s time to go inside.”
“No, I don’t want to.”
“I know you don’t want to, but it’s time to get ready for bed. Let’s go.”
Nora scampers up the steep pile of mulch in the driveway. “I want to stay outside and play.”
“I know you do, but that’s not one of your choices. Your choices are to take my hand and climb down the pile or get down on your own so we can go in the house.”
“I’ll sing a song about this. I don’t want to go in the house I want to be a fairy on the top of this hill and sing about spring. No one can come near me and bug me because I just like to sit on top of the mound. When you hear this song that means not to bug me. Please don’t bug me I just want to be by myself.”
“Five, four, three…”
Nora scampers down and runs for the house.
As you can see, loss of naptime is tiring for everyone.