The Nap Wars

 

As a mom, I sort of live for nap time. That sounds bad, but it’s really not because nap time gives me a break from parenting. The real reason is that the Five O’clock Crankies are about a million times worse if one or the other of my kids hasn’t napped. It makes for a REALLY long afternoon and evening.

So my big girl has been in the routine of eating lunch, going up with me to her room and reading 2 stories, then listening to me sing her to sleep. She would nap for about an hour, then wake up refreshed and ready to move on to the next activity. Well, now that she is closer to 4 years old, The Nap Wars have begun. It’s a constant chorus of “I’m not tired” or “I don’t want to sleep” or even “I’M NOT TAKING A NAP!”. That last one is how I know that she very much needs a nap.

We have tried just doing quiet time. It doesn’t help and she is still melting down about 8 times during the afternoon. I’ve tried just powering through it and forcing her to nap. It ends in a battle that can go on for hours and get pretty ugly. I’ve even tried giving up on the whole thing completely, keeping her super busy during the afternoons and then putting her to bed at like 6pm. That works a little bit better, but she still has a bunch of meltdowns in the afternoons and just looks like she isn’t getting enough rest.

Anyway, this whole nap thing has become exhausting, and I feel like I need a nap just talking about it. Alice is one of the older kids in our group of friends, so I haven’t really seen other moms handle this transition away from napping. I know that other people’s kids don’t nap, but those kids (and moms) seem fine. Maybe I just don’t see their meltdowns? Maybe it’s been long enough that those kids really don’t need the nap? I don’t know. Advice is appreciated.

P.S. Mom and dad, I totally feel for you now…I never did nap, did I?!

Christmas at Our House

Here's what Christmas morning looked like around here:

The elves stayed up late building the gift (not nearly as difficult as some gifts  from the past!)

Then Alice woke up well before anyone else and went to TOWN on her presents

The kiddos looked through Ethan's stocking together, since he didn't really know what was going on

And the train table was a big hit!

Merry Christmas, hope it's a peaceful one!

Menu Monday

Here's what we are eating this week:

 

Sunday	Oatmeal	Cracker Stackers	Family
Monday	Eggs	Lentil Soup	Fettuccini Alfredo with Broccoli, rolls, salad
Tuesday	Oatmeal	Panini and salad	Christmas Eve Family Dinner
Wednesday	Pancakes!	Cracker Stackers	Roasted chicken, roasted veggies, mashed potatoes
Thursday	Eggs	Grilled Cheese and leftover lentil soup	Bean/cheese/spinach enchiladas
Friday	Oatmeal	Homemade Pizza	Birthday party
Saturday	French Toast	Leftovers (enchiladas, pizza, or chicken)	Fish, brown rice, steamed carrots and green beans

Some notes:

 

-That lentil soup is AMAZING. It isn't what you expect from lentil soup, and it is an awesome way to get kids to eat all those veggies (kale, sweet potato, leeks...). My husband spiced it up with some homemade chiles en vinagre that his mom made and then squeezed a little lime on the soup. I just like to have some sourdough bread with it. Either way, you should try the soup.

 

-Did you know that making alfredo sauce was THIS EASY!? I kind of feel ridiculous that I ever bought the kind in a jar. Three ingredients (and I added a couple cloves of garlic). Who knew? Don't answer that...

 

-The cracker stackers are nothing more than whole wheat Ritz style crackers (but we get the store brand), hummus or turkey or genoa salami, and some cheese. Alice requests this pretty much every day. I put either a carrot or some celery on the side and some fruit. Lately we have been eating a lot of tangerines.

 

-The veggies I roast are sweet potatoes, parsnips, and cipollini onions. Olive oil, salt and pepper them up, and into the oven on a cookie sheet. YUM.

 

-The bean/cheese/spinach enchiladas have no recipe. I always make some beans (dry, not canned) to have on hand for the week. On Thursday I mash them up, grate in some cheese and toss in the spinach that I have left. Roll it up in some corn tortillas, put them in a baking dish and pour some salsa over the top (ok, I usually do use the kind in a jar here, unless my mother-in-law has given us some homemade...) and pop them in the oven.

 

-When I say "family" meal, I mean that my amazing in-laws are cooking up a storm for us. I can't even begin to tell you what a fantastic cook my mother-in-law is. You want to taste real Mexican food? You have to visit her kitchen. And trust me, she'd love to have you :)