Taking the reins
As my last post about life with children indicated, something needed to change around here. And so I've instituted a new nap time policy. First, I had Dude put a hook-and-eye on the outside of the girls' bedroom door. Then I told the girls that nap time goes to the end of the cd. I will lie down with them until they are asleep, but if they wake up and the music is still playing, nap time isn't over. They have several choices at that point: a) scream, cry, pound the door and call for me; b) lie back down and either sleep some more or just rest quietly; or c) read some books or play quietly. No matter what they choose to do, I will be downstairs until the music stops.
Yesterday was Day 1. It totally freaking sucked. Both girls went for option A for about half an hour. I called over the monitor several times to remind them that I was just downstairs and would be up when the music stopped. At the appropriate time, I went upstairs to find them both lying on the bed covered in snot and tears, still screaming.
Day 2 is a little better, but not much. The Bug woke up about 10 minutes ago (there's still a good 15-20 minutes of music left). She cried for about 5 minutes and then started to peter off, but now Belly is going full throttle, "Mommymommymommymommymommymommy..."
They'll get used to this routine, right? I mean, I know they will, but right now is downright miserable for all of us. I'm not exactly enjoying having a "break" when I'm spending the whole time feeling like I should rescue my kids from their own personal hell. But then I'm in hell by not getting a break.
To top it all off, Dude is sick in bed. He has a doctor's appointment in an hour, but he's pretty sure that it's a sinus infection.
Both girls are now raging in full effect up there.
Welcome to the happy house.
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1 comments:
Hang in there. It will get better. You might have to go through a week or more of hell, but it'll pay off in the end when the girls are taking proper naps. It sounds like Day 2 was already way better than Day 1. Seriously... you can do it.
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