The decision you’re not ready for your child to make

The first time it happens you shrug it off and think it was just a fluke. Then a week or two later it happens again. The following week your child does it twice. You worry quietly to yourself that this could be the beginning of the end. But you bury that thought because everything returns to normal for a few days.

Then it all of a sudden happens one day. Your child decides they no longer need to nap………ever again.

It is a hard battle that we as parent eventually lose.

My wife unfortunately has to bear the brunt of it most days. She will try for 30 minutes (sometimes an hour, sometimes longer) to get our son Tristan to nap; failing in her efforts day after day. That precious 90 minutes she had to herself to get things done each day is now gone… It has now been stolen from her.

IMG_6326With far less experience the boy makes a mockery of my feeble attempts to get him to nap on the weekends. He let’s me read him stories then lay him down, toying with my emotions the entire time. Only after I breathe a sigh of relief that I may have actually gotten him to nap does he strut out of his room to break my spirit.

Now most nights by 6 pm our son is more monster than human: arguing for the sake if arguing, demanding ridiculous demands and trying to kick the dogs at every turn. The poor dogs try to stay out of the way but there is no escaping his malice.

Each night as I put Tristan in his pajamas, I wipe the tears from his exhausted eyes and say, “if you had taken a nap today you wouldn’t be so tired and sad right now”. Tristan nods as if he has seen the error of his ways and will agree to nap the following afternoon.

But that never happens. Each day the previous night is forgotten and my son once again has no need for the comfort of his pillow and blanket. Truthfully my wife and I no longer believe there is any hope of him returning to his old routine. We can only see the dark days ahead, and pray to keep our sanity amidst all this madness.

Pat Lemieux

About Pat Lemieux

Pat has it all, family, big old house, dogs, a young son and a quarter-life crisis. He blogs about trying to be who he has always been and be who he now needs to be. He enjoys 90's grunge metal, tasty local brews and the outdoors.