Nap times are just a SHOW around here...

Lately, my 3 year old has been fighting her nap time.  This is a problem.  She wakes up too early every morning to even think about letting her skip the nap, and I'm certainly not ready to give up my 2 hours or so of bliss.  99% of the time, Parker and Gracen go down for a nap together too....which is EXTREMELY NICE. 

On Friday, Gracen decided that instead of taking a nap, she would roll around in her bed, throw the stuffed animals off of it repeatedly, sing loudly, flail her legs up in the air, etc.  After repeated warnings, and a couple of leg smacks to boot, an hour and a half later, she wasn't asleep (and yes, I tried the super nice way too....filled with a soft voice, lullabies, stories, etc.).  In fact, it was worse....she was exhausted from crying and being so hyper but wouldn't fall asleep at the same time.  In addition, she woke Parker up, giving him only a 30 minute nap.  She later wanted to fall asleep at 5 pm when I was trying to put her shoes on so we could leave to have dinner at Outback with  my Mom.  Needless to say, it was one of those days that I       a) wished I was at work and b) wished I had been the mom who used the "cry it out" method with her as a baby. 

I never let Gracen cry herself to sleep.  I didn't have the heart.  And she was a horrible napper until her naps were cut to one a day---and even then it took some time for her to build up to a 2 hour nap or so.  My mom and grandma watched her while I worked so I can't be solely responsible.  They would never have let her cry it out either.  Therefore, at the age of 3, I still lie down with her to get her to take a nap during the day and to go to sleep at night.  This creates a real problem when trying to get them both to sleep at the same time.  I used to be able to stand and hold Parker and then sing to her and they would both be out....but not anymore.

And so, poor Parker (second child of course) is the one who has to endure the "crying it out" test.  It doesn't bother me as much as it did with Gracen....even though Parker is such a sweet baby.  I guess it's because I'm so busy that I don't have time to listen.  And in reality, I must confess, I'm still a pushover.  I don't let him cry for too long, and when I go in there finally, he's so tired that I can lay him down, rub his head a bit, and he's out like a light.  In addition, letting either one of my babies cry it out was never successful for me.  All my children have ever done is work themselves up enough to where they almost throw up....and at that point, there's no turning back and no sleep. 

Yesterday, she tried to be silly on me once again during nap, and I was so aggravated with her that I slammed the door and told her not to get up.  I hate to put her to sleep like that, but I was at my wit's end.  And believe it or not...I checked on her about 5 minutes later and she was sound asleep.  Such a mystery, my child. 

Today wasn't nearly as easy.  When Parker finally went down, I had to crawl into bed with her.  Sometimes it's kind of nice....I have to admit.  I even get to snooze maybe 20 minutes or so too.  Call me crazy, but if someone is going to tell me to take a nap, I'm going to listen!

And now at night, Gracen is in my bed by at least 2 a.m., which really has to stop.  It's hit or miss, but for some reason, she will randomly wake up about 3 out of 7 nights of the week and climb into bed with us.  My husband is almost comical when he says he kind of likes it----makes him feel safe to have Gracen snuggled in between us.  I can't stand it as she is the worst sleeper in the world, and I'm tired of her feet in my face and waking up with a stiff neck or back.  BUT, no one wants a scene during the middle of the night or the middle of a nap for that matter.  I have an extremely small house and would rather give into her than have her yelping and waking up my little boy from his sleep.  Then I would end up with two, totally awake and angry children and who really wins in that case---no one.  I can't say that she steals it either as I slept with my mom until I'm too embarrassed to even say! 

So yes, we've created a monster here, and I'm in the process of trying to prevent another one from rearing his ugly head.  So far, so good I guess.  I do believe that I have something to do with my children's poor sleeping habits, but I also believe it's who they are and it's their personalities as well.  The other day on the news, there was a story about letting your kids sleep with you.  I am not going to say either way what's right and what's wrong, but if I had things my way, my kids would sleep soundly in their OWN beds all night long.  However, when I look around I see so many worse things in this world involving children so if this is one of their only vices....I guess I'll take it :).