The daily nap, that is. The 3yo has grown more and more obstinate about his daily nap. Truth be told, he’s been obstinate about it for months, but I’m only now moving toward acceptance of his changing routine. The 3yo still often naps at school, where the day is more rigid [and often more active] than it is here at home. But I’m pretty strict about routine myself. On days when the 3yo is here, we eat lunch about the same time he does at school, then head right for naptime. Dinner is about the same time every night. He goes to bed religiously at 7:30 each night.
But for at least two months, he’s fought that afternoon nap tooth and nail. I really can’t judge his timing based on his sister’s history–never mind that they’re not biological siblings. Her napping was always more erratic, from infancy onward. When she gave up her nap, she hadn’t been napping regularly for months, even at school. Then once every couple of weeks, she’d sleep for 4 hours on a weekend afternoon — always on a day you had something planned, of course. The 3yo isn’t ever erratic, about anything. He just doesn’t need the nap every day anymore.
Of course, I’m just being selfish about this. I’m now working out of my home, and in January, the 3yo will only be in nursery school 2 days a week. That’s on purpose — I’m looking forward to spending more time with him. But I was really hoping for a little time to myself on the weekdays we’d be mostly home together. Silly me, I even had illusions I’d still have him napping when the baby is due in May. I know; I’m just delirious.
So today is the 3yo’s first official day without a nap. He really did pretty well, considering. One small meltdown, one 5-minute batch of crankiness. You could get both of those on a day with a good nap. And I know he’ll still be napping some in the future. I’m just no longer kidding myself that I can count on 2 quiet hours mid-day any longer.