Friday, January 23, 2009

Post from the Car


It's 4:30 p.m., and I get a pretty nice wireless signal in the driveway, where I sit with the car idling and Duncan napping in the back seat.

Duncan is trying to give up his nap. We have not ferreted out whether he's unable to sleep or is choosing not to sleep. We have asked him, and he says he just doesn't want to. Babies nap, not big boys. It started the day after we returned from Albany after Christmas and lasted through the rest of our vacation and into the following weeks. Forgive me for not knowing the details; it feels like a very long time. He's still required to spend an hour of rest time in his room, which he spends looking at books and whining. Oh, yeah, and rattling the gate every ten minutes calling "I'm done with my rest now." We've tried logic, pleading, bribery, and trickery. He will not nap for us, nor will he nap for the nice ladies at Housatonic Child Care Center. He rests on his cot but politely refuses to sleep. Last week, he napped at daycare on Friday and then, miracle of miracles, napped both Saturday and Sunday afternoons; I was afraid to be optimistic, and rightly so, because it was a fluke. Wednesday, he was so tired that Kristina had to lay him down for a little nap before lunch. Yesterday, he fell asleep in the car on the way home. I'd be fine with his daytime lack of sleep if he were, but he's simply not. Without his nap, he has meltdowns between 3:30 and bedtime. Each day that goes by, he gets a little more tired, a little more whiny, a little more rude, and a little more volatile. Yesterday, he collapsed in tears at breakfast because he wanted milk instead of juice, even though he had not asked for milk.

So he fell asleep ten minutes from home, we took a little drive around Amenia, and here we sit, idling in the driveway, surfing the internet, and praising the wireless connection while the big boy snores in the car seat.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I remember when Paul started taking naps when he was a baby. 1-2 hours of freedom and quiet. Bliss.