The Finger

Every mother I know lives for nap time. This is the only time of the day when mommy gets to do what mommy wants to do. While our precious children are sleeping, some of us work on the household chores (um, not me), while others of us enjoy a bowl of ice cream while listening to the wonderful echoes of a silent house. It is a sacred time of day not to be tampered with.

Since taking John off of sippy cups and bottles, he has sucked on my finger to fall asleep. This is embarrassing to admit, however, his father should be even more embarrassed than me, as he lets John suck on his finger whenever (something I cut him off from a couple of months ago). It's been a hard habit to break, and John invariably asks anyone who has he has spent about two minutes with if he can suck on their finger. Please, if he asks you, say no! You would think this would be a no brainer, but when he asked my mother (Nana), she said yes, and now he constantly wants to suck on her finger when she is around. I promise you, your finger will never be the same again. Both Mike and my fingers have callouses on them from letting John suck on them.

Anway, starting on Monday, John will no longer fall asleep for naps. I laid down with him for nearly an hour (finger in his mouth) while he tossed and turned, tossed and turned. He was starting to remind me of his father with all of the leg jerking going on. John wanted to give up and head to the backyard trampoline several times, but I wouldn't let him. He was going to go to sleep, darn it, no matter how pruney my finger was getting. Finally, after an hour I gave up and made him stay in his room for another hour for "quiet time", although it wasn't really quiet with John crying to come out of his room. I thought for sure that would teach him his lesson and he would fall asleep the next day. So yesterday we tried again. Same thing. I even made sure he was super active in the morning so he would be more worn out. Like Monday, I made him stay in his room until I was ready to let him out. Today I gave it my best effort and John wouldn't fall asleep and when I left him in his room for "quiet time", aka, "Mommy time", I realized that keeping him in there was almost more trouble than it's worth, as he is constantly asking when he can come out and wanting to show me a new game that he has come up with. If I let him roam the house, he is much more likely to occupy himself outside and give me a little peace.

So today I am in mourning for nap time. Because, except on very rare occassions, we won't have it ever again at our house. No more will I be able to spend three hours in the middle of the day doing exactly what I want to do with no interruptions. Good-bye to the leisurely lunches, good-bye to the private bathroom visits, good-bye to eating chocolate without someone asking "What's that? Chocolate? I want some.", and good-bye to the rare nap I stole for myself when I had only gotten four hours of sleep the night before. Those were heavenly!

So along with saying good-bye to naps, we are saying goodbye to The Finger. If it won't work to make John fall asleep, than there is no point in keeping it around. When I told John this, he asked for it one last time. I captured it on camera. Maybe I'll start painting my fingernails.

Regards,
Amy