Truce

On February 15, I declared war on my child. It's a long, pitiful story that I won't bore you with, but it has to do with sleep. Naps, in particular. Today - March 12, less than a month after I declared war - I have called a truce.

They say that a stupid person is one who continues to attack the same problem in the same way over and over expecting different results. Well, today. . . I realized that's what I was doing. Somehow, in my I-am-mother-hear-me-roar head, I decided that Daniel was going to take a nap at 11:00 in his own crib come hell or high water. Well, hell didn't come. But when I surrendered (again) yesterday and went to get my wailing child out of his crib, I stepped on wet carpet (i.e., high water). Wet with my baby's tears. There is something - who knows what - about taking a nap in his crib that upsets him. Upsets him to the point that he cannot calm himself down, cannot tell me what it is, and absolutely cannot go to sleep. Not only can he not go to sleep, but we spend the rest of the afternoon counting down the minutes until Daddy gets home and after Daddy gets home, we spend the rest of the evening trying to explain to Daniel why he can't go to bed yet. Mis-er-a-ble.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week have been three of the best days we've had in over a month. What was different? Naptime. I surrendered and curled up with my baby in my bed and we both slept. Snored. Drooled. Slept. And when Daniel woke up, he was - wait for it - in a good mood.

So it comes down to this - Am I stubborn enough to keep fighting with my exhausted, tortured child that I'm willing to sacrifice our happiness? Nope. I decided today that no amount of household chores are worth that. That's what I aim(ed) to do during Daniel's Utopian nap. Mop my kitchen floor. Put on my lasagna. Tape off the spare bedroom so I can paint after he goes to bed. Really? Is it really worth all of the tears, the anguish, the drama for chores? Really?

Many of you are reading this and thinking to yourselves, But she said that she'd be damned before she'd load the whole family into the car to get Big Brother to take a nap once Little Brother/Sister comes along. What happened to that? Well, what happened to that is this - Each and every day, Daniel tells me a little bit more about what's going on in his head. Seeing that said Little Brother/Sister hasn't even been conceived yet, I'm hoping (praying, begging, depending upon) that by the time said child arrives, Daniel will be able to tell me what bothers him so severely about napping. He'll be able to say, "Mama. I want to eat lunch before I take a nap. And can we please leave the door open?" And I'll smile and say of course and we'll all be happier and no worse for the wear.

So there ya have it. The white flag has been raised and so have my spirits. Sleep well, little one.