Afternoon Naps at Our House

"Do they let you lie down and take a nap during the day?"

Does it LOOK like they let me lie down and sleep during the day?!

This from other Mums at Prep comparing the activity levels of our children.

How do these kids come out of six plus hours of school still full of energy and bouncing  around in anticipation for the afternoon's activities?  (How do Germans still believe that kids wouldn't be able to handle more than four hours of school a day?!)

Oh goody.  Some assembly required.

"Can we play on the playground for a bit, huh huh?"   I set down their school bags and slump to the grass.

"And today I got a prize for reading and we made a scarecrow for the garden and then in cooking class we got to..."   The list goes on.

No.  They do not stop.  Thank goodness for the trampoline..

July 1.  Aidan doing a happy dance at Bribey Island.

I did, of course, TRY laying down a couple of times over the school holidays.  Not often. 

Because, while all four of them were more than happy to let me go downstairs to lie down, the concept of uninterrupted sleep still eludes them.

Matthe digging for oil.  Really.  (Now where the heck did he come up with that?!)

I can ignore the herd of elephants trampling overhead in the interests of having a room to myself.  I can forget the forays into the fridge and cupboards, the whispered excitement of being alone without supervision, the doors slamming and the rearranging of toys that goes on as they set up to play.

It is harder to ignore them standing over the bed, breathing heavily, waiting to see what I will do,

WHAT DO YOU LITTLE PEOPLE THINK I AM GOING TO DO?!  IT'S BEEN FIVE MINUTES SINCE YOU EMPTIED THE CUPBOARDS AND BROUGHT ALL OF YOUR TOYS OUT INTO THE HALLWAY.  NOW WHAT?!

I open an eye.

"Oh good.  I was going to let you sleep but..."  This from Andrew.  "Can I play on the computer, play on my Nintendo DS?"   YES.  YES;  YES.  Sneaky little bugger.  It's called blackmail in other settings. 

Andrew.  Looking good.

I close my eyes.  Ignore the fighting and screaming and yelling and crying.  Andrew trying to give Aidan and Matthew a time out.  Ryan telling them how they should behave. 

Sudden quiet.

I open an eye.

The twins are playing strong man with the three pound hand weights I keep in my room.  Nice to see someone using them, I guess.

My budding artist.

Or they've spread a deck if cards out on the carpet and are quietly - ie lots of heavy whispering - playing War.

They spot me with an eye open.  "Mommy,  Can we have chips, candy, soda, granola bars"...anything I've told them they couldn't have fifteen minutes before.  What ever happened to raiding the cupboard behind my back boys?  Why are we asking permission?

They are also literally dying of thirst.  "Can we have some water?"

YES.  YES.  YES.  You know where the faucet is, for crying out loud.

Maybe I catch a few minutes of sleep.

Maybe not.

There's Aidan playing a drum solo at the foot of the bed.

So you wanna be a rock star?

Never mind that he's actually quite good. 

All of this COUILD be solved by turning on the TV, I suppose.

Except then they'd be waking me up to ask about programming.

Do the kids let me lay down?  They are more than happy to.

Do they let me sleep?  They sure as heck think they do. 

An AWW moment on July 4.

Is it touching that their little worlds collapse the minute I shut my eyes, that they miss me for the few minutes I am gone?

Maybe.

Just as touching as it will be in ten years when I wake them up at 6AM to tell them how much I love them!