I am at my sisters with my two in tow enjoying the morning visiting with family. Lunch time comes and goes and then it is getting close to nap time. Do I put the kids down at my sisters? Do I just let them fall asleep in the car on the way home?I have a good friend who has trained her kids to NOT sleep in the car. She does not want them to fall asleep and then get home and not be able to sleep. I am not quite sure how she trained them to do this but when they go on long trips, where sleeping is a necessity, this training has become a bit of a problem.
When Lucas was about two, I remember many trips back from stores or other places where I would be singing to Lucas, rolling down his window, asking him questions... anything to try and get him to stay awake. If he fell asleep in the car, even if it was for ten minutes, that would be his nap for the day and that meant complete disaster.
Today I decided to head home. I pretty much guaranteed that Alex would fall asleep but Lucas was a toss up, he doesn't nap most days anyway. Luckily with Alex this has never been a problem, if she fell asleep in the car she always just finished her nap when she got home.
I had not even made it to the highway and both kids were out. The drive seemed very long and quiet.. and let me tell you listening to two kids quietly snoring in the mid-afternoon has a tranquilizing affect. Luckily I was able to stay awake and make it home.
Lucas woke up when we got home, but he woke up enough to go potty and get back into bed! Yeah! I carried Alex into bed, she stirred, she began crying... she was not wanting to go back to sleep but so tired she could hardly sit up. What in the world had happened? Everything was the complete opposite of how it should have been. I left her room, I brought her some milk, I lay by her for a few minutes, I even tried reading her a story.. this finally got her to stop crying. But did she go back to sleep. Nope. Is it going to be a long afternoon? Yep.
I guess this is part of the adventures of being a mom... as soon as you think you have it all figured out then boom, something throws you for a loop. Ahh, most exciting job I know of.
Both Kristin and Ryan would not nap if they fell asleep for any length of time in the car. It did not matter if it was 20 minutes or 2 seconds. That was the nap. Emily would always go back to sleep! The other two, I would sing, tickle feet, talk to them. whatever I could think of. Funny that Alex didn't go back to sleep. She was probably confused.
ReplyDeleteNeither of my kids will go back to sleep after sleeping in the car, so when I know they need more sleep, I just drive around in circles until they wake up. No free time for me, but they're a lot happier that way, so it's worth it to me.
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