Picture of This Day

Naps are no longer on the official schedule. We eliminated them a few weeks ago when it became apparent Kiernan really wasn't going to sleep but once in maybe three tries. Also, we wanted to establish an earlier bedtime before the start of Kindergarten, and there was no way to do that with a late afternoon nap in the mix. So we instituted something called "Quiet Time" in the place of Nap Time.

Quiet Time lasts for an hour and it's basically just a time for Kiernan to read or play quietly in his room. He has the option to nap. He always scoffs when we remind him of this option.

You know what is cool? He has totally bought into this. He does his Quiet Time usually without complaint and almost never cheats. Sometimes I'll catch him staring at the clock in the last few minutes, but usually he just plays and reads contentedly.

Wendy just returned from a business trip back east yesterday afternoon. She had to get up early for a video conference today, so she was pretty much bushed. I insisted she take a nap and Kiernan begged her to take it in his room while he did Quiet Time. I was skeptical, but we decided to give it a try this once as he really missed her while she was away.

I had the monitor on to make sure he didn't pounce on Wendy in her sleep. He didn't. He whispered once to me for crayons and then hummed quietly to himself for a long while. When the end of the hour rolled around I suddenly realized the monitor had been quiet for some time. I crept in to look and the above picture is what I saw.

Sometimes you just need a nap.

Friday, August 13, 2009