Naptime

Nothing makes me madder than having just gotten all three kids to nap and aghhh... some inescapable noise threatens to wake my children. It’s naptime at the Cason’s and not a sound is peeping. Nothing, nada, zip. Except for an alarm that is currently going off in our quiet, secured, no alarm necessary neighborhood.

I’m protective of my kid’s naptime. It’s a well needed rest for all of us. When I was childless- a lifetime ago- I thought people were a little too strict with naps. I used to wonder about the moms who’d tape a stern note to the door –

“Attention do not ring door bell… Children napping!”

What it really meant was:

“Warning! Children inside napping and mom going to lose it if you up wake her child."

Of course now I get it. I mean what mom wouldn’t understand?

Once I had kids my perspective shifted. Now when the phone rings at an ungodly hour – 2:00 pm - I lunge toward it.

“Hello”, I whisper a little too crankily.

“Oh I’m sorry were you sleeping?”, they usually reply.

“No.”

Most times I add “I’m about to take a shower.”

Sometimes I add “I’m about to clean the bathroom.”

And occasionally I add “I’m about to do some sit ups.”

But it’s not unusual for me to skip the shower, the bathroom and the sit ups altogether and go straight for the most procrastinated task. Seriously now, I have to go. The kids are sleeping, and there’s laundry to be folded.

Sheila Cason, MD