The nap battles

For the past week, I have been finding my way back into my yoga pants, sweatshirts, running shoes, and ponytails - and I've been liking it! Surprise! I am embracing this busy-mom-wear because I have been longing to be a stay at home mom again ever since the school year began. So, like I said in a previous post, I am off from school (except for a few exams) and I am really really really focusing my attention on Carter. Before classes were even done, I listed out all of the things I'd like to do with Carter and a few parenting goals.

Goal #1: Fix Carter's nap/sleep schedule.

Carter has gotten used to sleeping late, waking up late, and not napping at all (if we do get him to nap, it's late in the afternoon or evening). It's crazy how much energy this little guy has and his current sleeping habits are no good. So, today is the first day of the nap battles.

The nerd inside of me made a schedule/chart on the computer yesterday (colorful, cool fonts, and all) to get our lives a bit more organized. Following the chart, I tried putting Carter to sleep at noon after his lunch. I was doing everything on time, Carter's room was nice and clean, and his bed was ready to be nestled in.

The plan went downhill from there. Instead of snuggling under the covers, Carter ended up jumping on the bed. I tried to think of different ways to settle him down. We read some books, I rubbed his back, I even laid on the bed too. While I was pretending to get rest, I peeked with one eye to see my toddler free-falling on his bed. My last attempt was to let him play on his own for a bit until he fell asleep. So, I told him it was nap time, closed his bedroom door, and went to my bedroom. And, of course, as I was writing this post, my bedroom door creaked open, Carter climbed onto my bed, picked up my iPhone, sat beside me, and said, "Thank you, Mommy!"

It's not called a nap battle for nothing.