Life Without Naps

For almost five years, I've enjoyed having a break in my day, a reprieve from the noise. As a stay at home mom, one of my favorite times of the day has always been nap time. It allows me some time to myself, to get things done or to relax and do nothing at all. I've dreaded the day when naps would end, and I've threatened Brian that I would go back to work when that time came. I've always thought that I would struggle with the lack of solitude that no naps would create.

Well, the time is here. Sarah has given up naps. The process has been slow, every other day at first, and then every third day. Sarah napped once this week, on Monday, and it was only because I agreed to take one with her. I was happy to oblige!

At first, it was challenging. She was grumpy when she chose not to nap, and we'd all pay for her newly formed opinion that naps weren't fun anymore. She still has those moments, but for the most part, she does very well without the extra rest. Thankfully, she plays well by herself and even though she's not asleep, you'd barely know she's there. (She does feel the need to ask questions occasionally and comes to find me before continuing to play. She even sneaks past Eric's room on tiptoes when I remind her that he's sleeping, and then she runs full speed into the playroom.)

Now that I'm on the other side, it's not nearly as bad as I imagined. Not bad enough to send me back to work, anyway. I admit though, there are still days that I'd really like a nap!!

Grateful Turkeys

We worked on "thankful turkeys" the other day, and an unanticipated lesson was taught in the process. The kids did a great job painting the turkeys, and Sarah cut out all of her tail feathers and the turkey's gobble, too. When we got around to talking about what they were thankful for, Sarah started naming specific family members and friends, rather than saying "family" or "friends". Now, if there was room for lots and lots of feathers, this may have been okay, but we only had eight feathers per turkey. So, I explained that maybe "family" would work rather than "Mommy", "Daddy", or "Penny." (Note the exclusion of "Eric.") She agreed and wrote family instead. Unfortunately, she wasn't quite as willing to be inclusive about her friends, and that feather was left off the turkey. We're still working on it, but hopefully she's begun to recognize that including everyone is so much better than leaving some very good people out.

Eric's turkey - trucks, trains, Sarah, Penny, Daddy, Mommy, and plants (I'm thinking that last one was to make me happy, just a guess . . .)

Sarah's turkey - turkey (because it's Thanksgiving), candy, flowers, taggies, cats, family, and Nemo on Ice (which she'll see in Black Mountain, just after Thanksgiving)

me smell something

Eric has moved on. That is, he's moved from asking about that sound to pointing out smells. More specifically, he says, "Me smell something," anytime he thinks someone has passed gas. He is quite accurate in his smelly ability, however, there have been a few occasions where he's falsely accused someone (or all of us). For example, we were driving in the car yesterday, and Eric said, "Me smell something." But none of us had farted. We all denied it, but Eric wouldn't let up. "Me smell you (pointing to me,) or you (pointing to Brian), or you (pointing to Sarah.)" Again, we all denied his accusations. Once again, "Um-hmm, yes, me smell you, or you, or you." Brian wisely replied, "Whoever smelled it, dealt it, buddy." Eric disagreed. Once more, he blamed the rest of us. Personally, I didn't smell anything, but who knows.

Super Girl to the Rescue!

Sarah has decided that she wants to be Super Girl for Halloween next year. In this picture, she's showing off her "super muscles" (and cute puppy belly too!)

potato stamping

If they keep it up, the next present you receive could be wrapped in potato-stamped love!!

Our House

Sarah drew our house today. She's pointing to the porch in the picture, and the green triangle on top of it is the playroom. Next to the bonus room is her room, with the attic and chimney at the very top of the page. (Mommy and Daddy and Eric don't have bedrooms, but it's her perspective, after all.) Below her room is the downstairs - she only drew the kitchen and family room, but she does have the kitchen table and family room sofas and table in there. I have no idea what the squiggly line represents. She's drawn the garage, driveway and road, as well as doors and windows. And finally, she drew the deck out back, almost as big as the rest of the house, with the table and herb planter. And, my favorite, she always includes the sun and the sky.

Pumpkins at Fearrington

We've made a tradition of going with CJ and Lizzie to the annual carved pumpkin display at Fearrington Village. It's nice to be able to celebrate Halloween without candy being involved. As always, we had a great time.