From a taker of naps to the keeper of them...

I ♥ naps.

I always have.

Well, that may not be the complete truth. I remember fighting my parents to take naps as a child. Every Sunday when we got home from church we would change, have a quick lunch--usually sandwiches--and then it was nap time. We did this for years, until my dad left the church. The three of us kids hated it though. We would read quietly until we heard my dad snoring, and then we'd play. I mean, I guess the joke's on us, since the time obviously served it's purpose, but at the time, we thought we were smart.

Then, high school hit. And that's when my love-affair with naps really started. I would take an off-period at the end of the day so that I could drive home after class, take an hour and a half nap or so, and then go pick up my brother and sister from school. No one home, blissful silence and solitude, it was perfect.

College was like taking my relationship with napping to the next level. I strategically planned my classes to end at noon every day, so that I could have lunch, go back to my room, and nap from about 12:30p until 4pm when I had to get up to go to marching band practice (no band-geek jokes, I was in color guard).

{{This, of course, led to my eventual night-owl condition, but we'll save that for another post, as it has stories all it's own to tell...and explains so much about my insomniatic issues today. (yes, I'm aware I made that word up, but I like the way it sounds.) *lol*}}

My infatuation with naps has played a huge part in my life for the past 8 years since I left college. In Illinois, I worked a five-minute drive from my house, so on my 1-hour lunch break, I would rush home, take a 45-minute nap and rush back, leaving a little time to regroup and wake up. When we moved back to Texas, I did the same. I worked at a day care two blocks from my house so I could walk home, take a nap, and make it back in an hour. It was fantastic.

And, if I ever found myself in a job where I was too far from home, I would go out to my car, turn on the air/heater and the radio, set the alarm on my cell phone and nap in the parking lot. I was addicted; naps were my crack. And if I didn't get one, I was not a happy-camper, not someone you wanted to be around. At one particular day care I worked at, we had a couch in the after-school room, and I would take a blanket that I kept in my closet and go curl up in there while the kids were in school. I was going to get my "fix" one way or another.

Then, the boy was born, and I thought my days of napping were over. Luckily, I learned (or rather, was trained) to nap when he did. This usually wasn't difficult either, since he has been thoroughly exhausting me for the past nearly-three years. {{♥ you, Bug, but it's true!}}

Even after I went back to school, and was working, and taking care of a toddler, and keeping up with a house, and putting a husband through a police academy...I always managed to find an hour, one measly little blip in time, when I could afford to "rest my eyes" for just a bit.

I'm a pro. =)

However, the tables have turned, as I realized today. I am no longer the blissful taker of naps, but am the somewhat-regretful-yet-willing protector of them.

My husband works four ten-hour days--evenings/nights rather--and has three days off. Those three days, because of his schedule, require him to take naps in order to function at normal family hours. My son, at nearly three years old, is still of an age where he requires a nap in order function as a friendly little man.

My job, is to make sure that the boy is quiet when the husband sleeps, that the husband is quiet when the boy sleeps, and that the WORLD is quiet while they both sleep. This means: no more naps for Mama. {{tear}}

Today alone I had to silence the dogs from barking at the yard-guy who came to spray for weeds, keep them from barking inside at a squirrel that was outside, let the cat in and out of every room he decided he needed to grace with his presence or depart from (he jumps on the doorknobs otherwise, and tries to turn them, scratches the doors with his paws, bellows, etc.), and ask the Jehovah's Witnesses to please not come knock on our door anymore since my husband works nights and it gets our dogs all riled up. (Yes I know Jesus, yes I can respect what you are doing, but no thank you...sincerely, the Keeper of the Naps)

And that was just today.

Three days a week I take on this new hat to add to my already very heavy collection atop my head. I miss my naps, but, it's something I have to do. I tried to take one today, and I couldn't even get my brain to shut down, keeping an ear out for every possible disturbance and an eye on three animals. It's more irritating to try and fail than to just not even entertain the idea at all.

Perhaps, someday, I will find myself at a point in my life where I can revive my affair with naps, but for now, I remain

Slumberella: Keeper and Protector of the Naps

{{okay, that's kinda sad, but it was the best my nap-deprived brain could come up with =D }}

Peace, love, and sweet, sweet slumber
♥ S.

p.s. two in one day? go me. =)