grrlTravels

Waking from a nap

I am a napper from way back. I enjoy taking a nice long nap on a Saturday afternoon when there is nothing else pressing. I transformed this into an art form while I was pregnant. Then it was napping every day, most of the day if truth be told. Gestation was tiring for me.

The main problem with napping is that you have to get up eventually (unless you are blue and the napping is a form of self expression). I always have trouble waking up and dragging myself out of bed. There isn't that much longer to the day by that point, just 4 or 5 or 6 hours--why get up? Dinner in bed, tv in bed, reading in bed, it can all be done in bed. Sometimes it's going to be so hard to get up that the nap is cancelled before it even begins.

E. is a charming child in many ways. He's a good sleeper and wakes up like a dream, something his mother greatly appreciates in him. We had this lovely little ritual for getting up from his nap, and unfortunately it's gotten a bit out of control.

It all started innocently enough. He has a little ball that he keeps in his crib with the other "guys"--it's soft and filled with foam and seems to fit perfectly into the "stuffed animal" category, notwithstanding that it isn't entirely an animal. So one day he sat in his crib and threw the ball to me a few times. I fetched it and threw it back to him by tossing it in the crib since he can't catch very well. The game of "Catch in the Crib" was born. The next day it was a few more throws, until it took E. about half an hour to get up from his nap. I didn't mind--he was so pleasant, having such fun, and babbling away just like we were having a conversation. Besides, how many mothers don't need to while away the hours between waking up from the nap and daddy returning to the nest.

And then one tragic day the game changed. Instead of throwing the ball, E. threw his "Guy", the stuffed animal that he sleeps with. I made a fuss, "Oh, are you ok? Is everything ok? Are your arms ok? Are you legs ok? Everything ok?" and tossed him back in the crib. From that point onward the nice game of "Catch in the Crib" was lost to me, and instead I am left with the game of "Are You OK?" in which I talk shrilly and search for more interesting things to say than repeating myself approximately 100 times in row. Alas, I miss that sweet, sweet game of catch. I absolutely hate the awful, annoying game of "Are You OK?" Waking up from naps has become tedious, and I find myself tempting E. with diversions--"There's juice downstairs. Juice and snacks. And then we can go outside and if you will just let me stop playing this game I'll say yes when you ask for that tattoo in 6th grade. Can we just STOP?"

Just reminding you (as if you need reminding) to appreciate the cute little things, because sometimes they are more fleeting than you can believe. And you're left with something as truly awful as "Are You OK?" and waking up from a nap, your's or someone else's, is labor intensive once again.

Posted by grrlTravels at July 28, 2004 9:51 PM