The tables have turned in our sleep-deprivation home. It used to be the children who were depriving the parents of much needed sleep, thereby turning us into zombies. Now that school is in session, afternoon naps have pretty much vanished (except for the weekends, and even then rarely). Those nice two hour siestas have gone adios, with some tough results.
J's school runs from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. By the time he gets home, he has hardly an hour to nap before dinner. He's already a bit high-strung from a long day at school. So naps don't happen for him. We fill in the time with some activities before we sit down to our evening meal.
L's school is only half-days, from 9 a.m. to noon. I pick her up, we have lunch. At first, she was taking afternoon naps. That meant I had to wake her up to pick up J from school. This arrangement made L very cranky. Sometimes she would fight it by falling back asleep in the car, so I had to carry her back and forth from the parking lot. Those were the good days. On bad days, she'd fight walking; she'd fight carrying. After a while, she too gave up her afternoon naps, but not her crankiness.
The situation isn't really a win for the parents, as you might imagine. At best it's a Pyrrhic victory. When the kids deprive us of sleep, we become the classic slow, shambling, brainless zombies, like in the old black and white films. When the kids are deprived of sleep, they become the new fast, hyperactive, manic zombies, like in 28 Days Later. They bounce off the walls. They have massive mood swings. They constantly want snacks. They are fairly high maintenance and show no signs of stopping. Even on weekends, they refuse to nap!
Even though the tables have turned in our house, I fear they've pulled a 360 rather than a 180. The burden is back on us parents to manage the new, crazy situation that's been thrown to us. The kids are still quite loveable, so we are glad to do it. We look forward to vacations where we don't have to run back to the hotel every afternoon for nap time. They are going to bed earlier, so we parents are getting some of our evening back. There is a silver lining.
J's school runs from 9 a.m. to 3:15 p.m. By the time he gets home, he has hardly an hour to nap before dinner. He's already a bit high-strung from a long day at school. So naps don't happen for him. We fill in the time with some activities before we sit down to our evening meal.
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| Dancing instead of napping! |
L's school is only half-days, from 9 a.m. to noon. I pick her up, we have lunch. At first, she was taking afternoon naps. That meant I had to wake her up to pick up J from school. This arrangement made L very cranky. Sometimes she would fight it by falling back asleep in the car, so I had to carry her back and forth from the parking lot. Those were the good days. On bad days, she'd fight walking; she'd fight carrying. After a while, she too gave up her afternoon naps, but not her crankiness.
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| L falls for J's trick moves! |
The situation isn't really a win for the parents, as you might imagine. At best it's a Pyrrhic victory. When the kids deprive us of sleep, we become the classic slow, shambling, brainless zombies, like in the old black and white films. When the kids are deprived of sleep, they become the new fast, hyperactive, manic zombies, like in 28 Days Later. They bounce off the walls. They have massive mood swings. They constantly want snacks. They are fairly high maintenance and show no signs of stopping. Even on weekends, they refuse to nap!
Even though the tables have turned in our house, I fear they've pulled a 360 rather than a 180. The burden is back on us parents to manage the new, crazy situation that's been thrown to us. The kids are still quite loveable, so we are glad to do it. We look forward to vacations where we don't have to run back to the hotel every afternoon for nap time. They are going to bed earlier, so we parents are getting some of our evening back. There is a silver lining.
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Take care of yourselves! Those 28 days later zoms are scary!
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