Be Careful What You Wish For

The hardest part for me of the naptime routine is herding all three children into the same room. In that room, we change diapers, read, and sing our way to sleep. This calms the children and readies them for sleep, hopefully avoiding the hardest part of the post-naptime routine: Determining why the children are screaming.

The kids enjoy the reading and singing, but they realize the nap is nearing once the herding begins, and they scatter into separate corners of the house. I’ll track down one child, lead him/her into the room, and in the time it takes me to track down another child, the first one has usually found a new hiding place.

This afternoon I had the boys corralled in their room and temporarily distracted by books, and went after Abbie. She was in her room, the secrecy of her hiding place betrayed by the “sproing” sound as she jumped on the bed. I stepped into her room, and told her to come. She refused. I told her I wanted to read to her. She kept bouncing.

“Do you want to read or not?” I asked.

“Not,” she replied.

“Have a good nap,” I said as I shut her door. I walked into the boys’ room and read to them, secure that I knew exactly why Abbie was screaming in her room.