Nap Overboard

 

Dear Buddy,

You owe me, naps, and the universe in general a big explanation!

One day (a Saturday, to be precise) you announced “I tired” and promptly dragged yourself up the stairs and in to your bed for a 3.5 hour nap. This is my favorite thing about you. You love your naps. 3-3.5 hours is standard. Sometimes I have to wake you up to keep you from sleeping straight through bedtime. It’s more than a nap – it’s Sleep II.

You would think a nap like that would interfere with bedtime, but it never has. You can wake up at 5:30 pm and have no problem going back down at 9:00 pm and sleeping for 10-11 more hours. You literally spend most of your day asleep. I’m actually a little jealous.

And then…you stopped. Cold turkey.

Saturday you slept for 3.5 hours. Sunday you skipped your nap and never looked back. You packed it away like a children’s play thing.

It’s not fair!

Here’s how it actually goes down: you start getting glassy-eyed and yawning. I help you upstairs and take off your shoes. You use the potty and return to your room, dutifully climbing in to bed. I pull up the covers and give you a kiss. I close the door behind me and beg the universe, “Please, please let him nap this time. I just need a few moments of quiet. PLEASE!!”

3-4 minutes later the bedroom door opens and you emerge – bright-eyed and bushy-tailed…and wearing a different t-shirt. Every. Time. You change your shirt.

It’s like you’re saying, “Obviously I napped already because I’m wearing a different t-shirt!” Or maybe, “Buddy is napping. My name is…Ramone. Ramone wears a different t-shirt than Buddy. See?”

Regardless, your naps are gone. My quiet time is gone.

The other kick in the teeth? You’ve also started waking up an hour early. You went from sleeping 14 hours a day to 9 hours a day. How can you do that?? All at once?? Aren’t you tired??

I know I am…