Rolling the Nap Dice

Every mom knows the moment: it’s late afternoon, naps didn’t happen, and now you need to decide: Do you skip the nap and aim for an early bedtime, or let them sleep and risk an all- nighter?

I call these moments “rolling the nap dice.” At least weekly, I find myself in the high stakes round of naptime decisions and I often feel like I make the wrong choice.

This particular Sunday, we had an extra long morning at church, and it was after 4 p.m. by the time my kids began winding down for a nap. I rolled that dice and decided we would ALL take a “little” nap. We were asleep by 5. 

However, I suddenly woke up in silence and darkness. It was 8:30 p.m. and they were still sleeping! I knew they wouldn’t sleep till morning, and as I went back and forth on what to do, I felt guilty either way. I felt guilty that I “made the wrong choice” to give them a nap in the first place and I felt guilty that now they would be grumpy no matter what. “The night is ruined, and tomorrow will be too.” Or so I thought.

Finally, a third outcome popped into my mind: What if I take this “wrong decision” and all this guilt and just decide to make the night memorable and fun?!

With all the resolve and hope I could muster, I woke up my very confused children, and got them excited for our very special night! I set up the living room for an energetic obstacle course, we ate dinner and lots of snacks, we watched movies, played and read books. Much more than we realize, our kids pick up our cues. If we are excited and confident, it’s much more likely they will follow suit!

After all of that, we ran through our quick bedtime routine and we were back in bed by 1:00 a.m. Not only was it super fun, it was free of the stress and grumpiness I planned on experiencing. Plus, we all still got sleep that night. The next morning was intentionally slow and thankfully we all got back on schedule quicker than expected! 

This was a lighthearted example of making the most out of a moment, but motherhood is full of those mini moments when we dreadfully assume we made the wrong call, will have the worst outcome, you name it. And while the pressures of child-raising are real, sometimes we make them heavier than they need to be. I am learning it’s not always about which choice you initially made, but about confidently and joyfully making the most out of those choices.

From Another Mother,

Julia