The Sacred Nap

The nap is one of the greatest gifts God gave us parents.  The nap allows me to remain a nice mom.  It holds my sanity many days.

Caroline is approaching 6-years-old, and she knows there is still a rest time, if not an actual nap, in her day.  Jackson is close to 4 now, and he is starting to push the nap thing.  Wondering if he can get out of it.  So I am transitioning him into the fun of "rest time" in his room.  Some days it doesn't fly, but I remain determined.  Ryan just turned 2 so he naps daily still.  Thank goodness.

With the nap being so vital to the health of my family I am not above little white lies.  Here's my go-to trick to get them to nap when they aren't all that into it.

I tell them that they only grow when they are napping.  

Before they sleep I ask them which parts of their body are going to grow during nap.  Then I tickle their feet, or their bellies, so they grow and tuck them in.  Sometimes I even make that silly raspberry sound on the chosen spots to grow so they have "growing juice."  After nap we admire how tall they became.  How long their arms and fingers are now.  And they buy it!  And I remain a nice mom for the rest of the day.  It's a win-win in my book.

Sometimes I even tell them they grow more when it rains outside.  Or that it's possible their younger sibling may wake up taller than them if the older one doesn't nap while the younger one does.  That one often gets them laying in their beds at least.

So what are your tricks to keep the nap going?  Or did you say goodbye to the nap more gracefully than I did?

God bless the nap.  Amen.