Nap Time Protest

The past week or more Jake has been proclaiming that he's not going to take naps any longer. For a while he was okay with being the only nap taker in the house. Now he's starting to protest. The problem is that he still needs a nap. Unlike his siblings, he easily falls asleep most afternoons and he's hard to wake up after two hours. He needs more rest than his siblings. And if Jake doesn't nap what will he be doing during quiet time?

Viva will happily look at books on her own in her bedroom for two hours in the afternoon. Bentley plays a game or two with great-grandma, grandma or daddy (on the weekends) and then he quietly occupies himself.

Jake likes to draw and he might be willing to draw for two hours every afternoon, but he'd still interact with Bentley and the house would not be peaceful and quiet like Kara and I NEED it to be for a short time every afternoon. Forget the kids, we still need nap time.

Sorry Jake, we're going to keep on enforcing nap time as long as we can.

Here's how nap time went this Sunday afternoon:


Viva was allowed to spend her quiet time looking at books in our bedroom. Usually she's in her bedroom sitting on the top bunk surrounded by twenty to thirty books. Some afternoons Bentley joins her after he plays his games.


Bentley played Rat-A-Tat Cat with his father. It's a great game--quick and challenging. Bentley wins a lot of the time. He's pretty lucky when it comes to good draws.


Jake fell asleep in the craft room, his new napping spot. You can't see him in the photo, but Rameses is sleeping next to Jake. This is one of the bribes we use to get Jake to take a nap. Rameses loves to nap in the afternoon, so he's the perfect companion for Jake.