My Naptime

One of the best things I learned about living with my Grandma was that naptime is a sacred time. She told me that she took a nap every day no matter what age her children were. In addition to a funny picture of my dad being forced to sit on his bed every afternoon after high school I realized how deep this familial need was. I love taking naps.
When Danielle was born the barrage of mommy competition questions started. Many mothers proudly asked me when Danielle took a nap and told me how important it was to establish a solid schedule with children. According to them, without a set in stone schedule your life, child, and the very fabric of time would implode. They were, of course, a bunch of nut faces.
Last week my baby decided she no longer needed a nap. According to the What to Expect the Toddler Years that Eliza Magland kindly lent me this is an age appropriate behavior, even though your child still needs naps.
More importantly I still need a nap, or at least a few minutes to clean up the morning explosion of toys. Danielle helps sometimes but to her it is really just part of the joy of throwing things. She is just as happy to throw the toys in the bin as she is to carry the bin onto the highest piece of furniture she can manage and dump it.
So I've been trying to figure out what her sleepy signs are. At the first sign of sleepiness she gets to go down. Unfortunately by toddler has grown to love playing in her crib. It started when she one day reached down and got her duplos out of her toy bin. This has evolved into sneaking favorite toys into the crib. The other day I kept trying to put her down for a nap. After an hour she would cry and I would go get her, mostly to discover she wanted a diaper change or something to eat or a toy. She didn't seem very rested. I was skeptical but not clever enough to notice what was covered by the blankets. First it was a toy covered with black marks, then her bed and all the toys and the sheets I had finally put back on the bed after the vomited sunscreen incident.
Danielle had outsmarted me again. I left the monitor on louder and heard her delight. It was unpleasant to clean up the vomit adventure but the sharpie marker adventure is just insulting. When I was a child I remember waking up before it was light outside to find my mother's Sharpie markers. We stripped down naked and put on out "war paint." You see we were Indians. I also have vague memories about coloring all over the wall, our beds, our dressers, and most specifically a lampshade in green and red Sharpie. In those baby proofing classes they really should tell you to just get rid of every permanent writing implement in your life until your children are out of the house.
My attempts to enforce a nap time have left me feeling a little neglectful. I understand why I need a nap but maybe I should just wait it out and Danielle will go back to her naturally good sleep schedule. I felt a little bad about Danielle wanting to play in her crib all day only to be shocked at a 5:00 P.M. nap. According to what to expect that is much too late for an effective nap. Such a late nap is a real mommy failure. I suppose they would also be unhappy that my baby frequently stays up past 9:30 and even 10 or 11.
Maybe those "nut face" moms were really just talking to me about toddlers. Danielle now has an enforced nap time as well as a crib sweep every day. I've found lotion, pens, a package of envelopes, Austin's toys and a few pair of shoes so far. I asked my friend what type of mom has a child that would rather sit in her crib all day than play with her mother. "One with a Sharpie Marker" was the response. I guess part of motherhood is accepting that you are just not as compelling as a Sharpie. A valuable life lesson for all.