Ages

It's been ages since I wrote, but I have a couple of very, very good excuses.  The first good excuse is that I write during naptime...and we have not had any of those. 

Willow's naps have always been a point of contention--as seems to be the case for most nappers.  She is firmly against them, while I very strongly believe that they are necessary both for her sanity, and for my own.  And so I have done everything in my power to achieve them.  From walking in the stroller...and then when that didn't work, driving in the car.  And then when that didn't work anymore, reading stories for an hour until she got so bored she fell asleep.  And then even that didn't work, and by that point I'd finally had it. 

I didn't arrive at these deathly nap routines out of nowhere--I tried traditional methods first, but she has never ever not once gone down for a nap on her own.  We've had bedtime worked out for ages, but despite all the books saying that the nap would follow naturally, it just didn't happen.  I tried crying it out at naptime last year, to nothing more than tears on both our parts.

But this past week, I decided to try again.  For reasons to do with the second very good excuse, I really really needed some naps, and Willow was just not interested.  So I told her fine, you don't feel like going to sleep, that's your business, but you're going to stay in your crib for an hour and I strongly suggest that you spend that time sleeping.

She spent that time screaming.

But on the second day, she spent that time playing.  And while I can't concentrate much during the Screaming Hour, the Playing Hour is a little bit more acceptable.  Still doesn't feel like much of a break, and certainly doesn't provide the rest and relief that a nap does, but it's better than nothing.

Day 3, more playing.  Dave and I started talking about how to rearrange her schedule to accommodate a napless lifestyle, and I tried to convince myself that no naps was a good thing.  More time in the evening!  The ability to go out and do things during naptime! 

And then, Day 4, after a particularly zooty and unpromising morning, Willow fell asleep.  Not on her own, mind you, because that would never happen, but during our fifteen-minute story routine that precedes going in her crib.

So...what?  Does that mean she'll nap today?  Does that mean that we're on an every-once-in-a-while nap schedule?  I'll get back to you.

The second good excuse is, as Jody pointed out in the comments, I have a book coming out in the Fall and I've been neck-deep in copyedits.

!!