Napping can be the bane of your daycare existence. If you are not consistent and have eardrums of steel you will find yourself without your daily Union Break and before you know it, closing time will sneak up on you and there will be nothing prepped for tonight's dinner. Getting kids to nap at daycare can be one of the most challenging feats you will ever experience. That being said, how is it possible that I have had the good fortune of finding super nappers?
Today, being Monday, brings with it over-tired kids who have not napped since I last saw them. And, because I only offer a four day care week that could mean a child has been without a nap for as many as three days. Monday, therefore, means an earlier and longer nap day. I'm thankful for Monday nap days as I also did not get my daily recommended allotment of sleep over the weekend. Who wants to bid farewell to a day off before the early morning hours of a Friday or Saturday night? With patio season coming to an end we attempt to draw out as many hours from these summer days and nights as possible. It inevitably always catches up with me by Monday. When will I learn?
With three kids sawing logs on their sleep mats I decided to just close my tired, weary eyes for a minute. Heck, I even justified my need for a cat nap after walking three kids in a quad stroller two kilometers to the muffin store and back today. After Lego moments and scenes of Play-doh pies, sandbox construction, and princess play I deserved a short bout of shut eye. So, there I sat, half cocked on the couch, head on the arm rest attempting to take twenty minutes for myself. Imagine my surprise and chagrin to discover one and a half hours later that so much time had passed me by. I looked over to see that the kids were still lost in slumber. Bleary-eyed I climbed the stairs to attempt to prep some dinner for tonight.
I hate the bad wake up. You know what I mean. You wake up, still half asleep fighting the urge to just lay back down and close your eyes for just one more minute. The bad wake up is even worse when you realize that you have wasted ninety of the most efficient and important minutes of the day lazing on the couch. Who would make dinner? Who would author a blog entry? How would I keep up with the happenings of my fellow daycare providers on my favourite forums? Sigh.....how irresponsible of me.
Away I went to the kitchen irritated and on edge. Yes, I completed dinner for tonight. It sits in its casserole dish as we speak. I hope my husband won't mind eating home made mac and cheese because that was all the effort I could muster. And now, here I sit at the ripe old hour of 5:20pm writing a blog entry. The kids are gone home for the day, I am up an hour and a half of sleep and I feel wearier than ever.
Yes, my name is Judy. And yes, I am complaining about my having had a nap today at "work". Yep, my life is tough. Whoa is me.........
For concerns, advice or suggestions I welcome your email at judytrickett@yahoo.ca
Ahhh, the benefits we have of working from home.
ReplyDeleteIm too terrified to nap,.. I am afraid Ill wake up after a 5 min quiet moment to find myself duct taped to the couch with legos in my ears,...lol. But I will admit to an occasional bowl of ice cream right in front of the napping angels,.. =-)(laundryduchess, cant figure out how to get my username back on here, lol))
ReplyDeletelaundryduchess that's hilarious - duct tape and lego in your ears.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could catch some shut eye during nap time, but no matter how hard I try I cannot nap during the day no matter how bad I need it. And 3 of my 5 kids are in a crib or playpens, the other two are upstairs with a gate at the top so no worries about kids getting into trouble, just can't do it :P
ReplyDeleteRothesayShyMom
I was wondering where you were today. I thought maybe another unannounced vacation!
ReplyDeleteI too had a nap along with the kidlets today...but it is a monday so that means a very interupted sleep. I have one little guy only on Mondays and half way thru his naps he poops, wakes himself up and cries. I recently learned that if I get to him quick enough and change him he will go back to sleep...and so can I-until my next youngest wakes up and decides to whine and cry for no reason other than she can...must work on that as she wakes up the others too.
ReplyDeleteOh well, napping does take away from your 'productive time' but sometimes I feel sleep is pretty productive too!
I did the same thing today...with the same effects. Is it Friday, yet?
ReplyDeleteI could not nap when caring for others children no matter how tired I am. Now my own are a whole different deal! LOL
ReplyDeleteLMM
I'm a 6-month pregnant daycare provider, so I join in naptime almost every day of the week:) I love it!
ReplyDeleteI can't nap during the day. I feel worse than I did before it.
ReplyDeleteI've been known to take a few naps over the years but it sure doesn't happen often enough :)
ReplyDeleteLife is good if you can snooze with the kids. Now if we can figure out how to stop the bedtime poopers eh ladies?
ReplyDeleteI'm too scared to nap - I'm such a deep sleeper I'm afraid I won't wake up before the kids and before you know it I'll be laying on the couch with a pick-up time's amount of parents staring me in the face!
ReplyDeleteNow, when I was preggers, that was a different story! I napped all through nap time without even thinking twice!
Although i have never napped on the job, i share with your praise on monday nap lenghts because it just makes the week much more manageable. Having that one extra day where the kids get more sleep than activity is a God sent! It gives me more time to plan for the weekend and like you, i have been lucky enough to have majority of the kids in my service as monday super nappers.
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