Nap. A short word, but a very valuable one indeed. With two kids now, the kids’ naptimes can’t be any more crucial! The key to my survival!

Now, Ivy’s always been a really easy to put to sleep. Just read her a book or two or not and lay her in her crib, and she’s out. She will play in there till she falls asleep, and lay around in there till I come get her when she wakes up. We are SOOO blessed that way. She even has started telling us “nigh nigh” when she’s ready for her nap or bedtime. So thankful for how easy she is! She most often naps for 2-3 hours, and sometimes 3.5 if I get really lucky. AND THAT’S AMAZING.

So when it’s a good nap, it’s like HELL YA. You know you don’t have to brace yourself for some toddler tantrum or major maniac meltdown, it should be a smooth sailing day, one where it’s like the Brady Bunch and everyone is happy-go-lucky. I live for those naps. And the best is when you maybe get one hour when BOTH kids are napping at the same time. That’s like double HELL YA. One where you’re actually proud of yourself for how the house looks when your husband gets home.

On the other hand, sometimes it’s only a one hour nap. And when it’s a bad nap like that, the one where you haven’t even sat down yet from cleaning up lunch, it’s like SHIT. All hell is gonna break loose. You will have to brace yourself for who knows WHAT type of embarrassing behavior your child is bound to do, have a messy house, order takeout because there was no time to think about a meal, have a headache, be on the brink of a meltdown yourself, and you will probably be counting down the minutes before bedtime. And what? It’s 6:15? That’s bedtime tonight, for everyone’s sanity.

And a nap for myself? It’s not just toddlers’ moods that are affected by the nap! You know that advice that everyone gave you to “nap when the baby naps,” ya, umb, what’s that advice with two kids?! The word nap is practically non-existent in my vocabulary right now.

Last Friday I was SOO exhausted from being sick, getting up at night with Leo, and Ivy having a series of bad naps, that I actually thought I could maybe get a nap in and improve my mood and mind. Ivy loves to lay in “mama’s bed,” so I plugged in a Disney movie for her, cuddled her up in her blankie, and tried to close my eyes for a few minutes with Leo while Ivy watched her movie in bed. NOPE. Not on her watch! She kept hitting me saying, “wake up, wake up!” I could have FLIPPED on her! I hadn’t even sat down for a second and she was up from her nap and I so needed a mental break from her for a little bit longer. After spiraling into an emotional meltdown, I begged my Mom to take her for a little while. I didn’t have the energy for her and acknowledging that was the best for both of us. All hail grandparents, too!

So pip-squeak, remember that your Mom needs a break sometimes too, and can we pinky swear to take good naps from now on? ;) #keepdreamin #itsivysworld