Quiet time--ha!!

We used to be a house of weekend naps and (mostly) peaceful bedtimes. I'm hoping that if I blog about these days being gone, then maybe they will return. I'm also going to wish that Santa Claus will do all the shopping/decorating/wrapping this Christmas, because THAT is probably more likely to come true than nap time returning.

Okay, so bedtime hasn't been too bad. It's not the glorious breeze that it was during the pacifier days, but it's a piece of cake compared to nap time. Nap time has truly become a dreaded time in our house. I mean, how long can you force a 2 yo to stay in his room quietly? If you don't know the answer, not long. And whereas Evan used to stand at his door calling "Mommy? Daddy?" in an angelic voice that turned annoying after 20 minutes, Eric will stand under his window and run full-force into his door, scaring the bejeebies out of everyone else in the house. I'm tempted to set up a webcam so I can have a record of this, but haven't gotten around to it yet. So where am I going with this?

We have given in to the fact that Evan is beyond naps, especially since Kindergarten only requires 1 hour of quiet time a day. Our new rule is that he must stay in bed with his eyes closed until his music turns off (about 25 minutes) and then he can play/read quietly in his room for the rest of the time. He's following those instructions pretty well, so hopefully it will soon be a routine.

We have tried removing excessive items from Eric's bed (extra stuffed animals, bedrail that he kicks his legs on), sitting with him and patting his back, giving him a book, putting him down later...nothing. He fell asleep in the car at 4:30 yesterday afternoon when we were about 3 minutes away from a friend's house. And either he is being darn quiet right now, or he has just finally fallen asleep almost 2 hours after putting him into his room. While Evan is down here talking my ear off.

I need nap time back...I can't run full steam all day with these guys!!