Nap Time

My kids are nearly 5 and 6, but occasionally, they still need a nap. (shit, I still need a nap every now and again.)  Let me tell ya'... that little itty bitty rest time for those boys every third day or so helps prevent the bi-polar tendencies from surfacing... You know how it is.. one minute, eating their breakfast cereal in front of the TV is the coolest thing ever! ... laughter resonates throughout the house.. and its a harmonious and joyous sound that makes you *sigh* with delight..... but with that lack of sleep, the 15 minutes of giggling turns aggressive and mean.. and before you know they act like you locked them outside overnight before cutting off their middle toe, you poisoned their pet fish, and you made them brush their teeth with olive oil. 

So today was the third day.  They were due for some "rest time."  (the word 'nap' tends to create some doses of conflict, so we call it rest time)..  so off to my bedroom we go.. into the king size bed.  (I have been "assisting" them with their naps for quite some time.  they have never really napped in their rooms..  they have taken naps in my bed).. So we lay there.  Magoo on one side and little Sweet Pea on the other.  I am in the middle... I close my eyes and tell the boys to do the same.  and we lay there.  But they are squirrelly, sticking their butts up in the air under the covers.. blowing raspberries into the pillows.. holding their hands up and whispering stories to their fingers.. and then they jerk .. and they squirm and they giggle..  and then I hear myself saying, "stop fidgeting!".. That is when the flashback happened ...

When I was kid, my siblings and I would spend summers at my grandparents farm.  And they had this king size waterbed... dark wood frame...fuzzy brown bedspread.  it was just huge..  I never understood the waterbed thing... can't stand on 'em without falling over... can't roll over without having someone else on the bed roll INTO you... you can't 'sneak out' of bed because there's nothing sneaky about it!  (Now, I've never had sex on one either, so if there is some OBVIOUS thing I am missing, than be as it may, but I never got it)...

My grandma always made us take naps.  I hated it.  As an 11-year old, I wanted to be outside, biking up and down the miles of farm roads on her three-wheeler bike (that thing was the bomb!) and sometimes, I just wanted to visit the dairy farm next door.  But no... had to nap. right after lunch.  

So me and my 2 brothers.. and my grandma.. we would all line up on the king size waterbed... side by side.. to nap.  and we would lay there.. quietly. hands on our chest.. looking at the ceiling.  stiff as boards.  and God forbid, if we had an itch on our leg and we .. ya' know, moved! ... to itch the leg... Grandma would yell, "stop fidgeting!" ...we were antsy.. we were kids!  we would toss and turn.. you couldn't help BUT move.. alittle.  But with every teen-tiny movement, the bed would move too....  "stop fidgeting!"   

She had no problem falling asleep.  In fact, if the three of us kids were still for at least 3 minutes.. she was out. snoring in no time. she'd be snoring and we were counting the speckles on the ceiling. wide-eyed.  After awhile, one of us would ever-so-slowly turn our head to look at the clock...and then ever-so-slowly turn our head back, to return to the ceiling.  3 minutes felt like 15..  time slowed down.  so we laid there.  waiting till she was done napping. and then we would get up. 

So the thing that I realized about the nap time TODAY with my kiddos is this:  I remember when they were younger - I would get them up on the pillows, all snug and tucked in.. but for me, instead of being in the middle between both of them, I would lay at the foot of the bed, ready to rush off and 'escape' the minute they were both asleep.. had to get things done, "back then"...  Now, however, when I help them nap, I want to lay there.. and sleep!!   Like my grandma did... to rest, damn it, 'cuz  am tired!  .. so now, instead of rushing up to do something once they fall asleep, I ever-so-slowly turn to one side and I will watch Magoo sleep... then ever-so-slowly, I will roll over and watch Sweet Pea for awhile.  They aren't gonna be little forever!  

And if I am lucky, I will start snoring.