Ari claims he isn’t tired EVERY SINGLE DAY before nap time. Here’s the rub. He IS tired. How do I know? He naps after being placed in his crib midday.
These shenanigans began after we weaned Ari off of his afternoon bottle in June. (I know, it was a long overdue weaning. Don’t tell me he’ll need braces because of this. My friend is married to a dentist. When Isabelle was nearly three, she informed me that nearly every kid these days needs braces and therefore her husband doesn’t think we should be ripping bottles out of kids’ mouths as soon as they turn two.) A couple of weeks ago, Ari’s protests grew more intense so I let him sit on my lap while he drank a cup of milk. That seemed to work until we went on vacation a week and a half ago. (Routines go out the window when you’re road tripping!) Now that we’re home, I offered the milk-in-a-cup routine before today’s nap. Ari sat beside me and drank a bit of milk, but ultimately, he kept telling me he wasn’t tired.
But I knew Ari was tired. Therefore, I took him upstairs, closed his black-out shades, turned-on his white noise, and offered to snuggle with him on his chair.
“I wanna snuggle in your bed!” he told me.
“Not in my bed. On the glider,” I insisted.
Ari acquiesced. (Probably because he was tired!)
“Whatta you gonna do now?” Ari asked.
I remembered another thing I learned when the mid-July nap protests began. I could NOT tell him I was going to do work. He’d rather watch me work than nap. And you know what that means? I won’t be able to work if he’s “watching” me. So, I said, “I’m going to take a nap too.”
“Oh, okay,” Ari replied contently.
I turned Ari towards me and felt his warm-toddler weight snuggle into me. I began rocking him in the glider. Ari’s breathing got heavy quickly. He’s probably asleep. Just to be sure, I rocked him for another ten minutes. When I heard light snoring (and started dozing off myself), I stood up, carried him to his crib (Another thing we need to get rid of… I know! Remember, though, we moved to a new city less than eight weeks ago. I’m trying not to change too much too fast.), and covered him with his blankets.
OVER THREE HOURS LATER, I walked into Ari’s room. He smiled when he saw me. The first thing he said was “How did you sleep, Mommy?”
I giggled. I almost blurted out the truth about what I had been doing. Instead, I played along and said, “How sweet of you to ask, Ari!”
See what I did there? I praised him for his kindness without lying.
Raising Literate Humans 
This made me laugh. We are right there with you.
I love hear reading your sweet moments – and this is sweet indeed. Thank you for taking the time to capture and share these… they warm my soul.
I avoided soothers and bottles because I didn’t want my children to have speech issues, and they both had them anyway. I’m convinced everyone should just do what is right for their own family and stop worrying about each other!
My 7 year old still goes through a similar routine every night at bed time. He insists he is not tired, often crying because he’s so tired while he insists he isn’t tired!
I am seeing my grandson doing the same 😊 he is six.
Makes me think about how we all need a little gentleness in transitions even Mommies. A good nap also works wonders.
I remember these nap challenges, and it sounds like you did a beautiful job in helping with this transition! Three hours – he must have been tired!
Such a sweet slice from your life. You pulled me right into that cuddling moment with the warm weight of your son, and your doziness.
Had to smile at how things change. I relish an afternoon nap these days.
Ha! Perfection parenting move. I loved thinking about the little snuggles and sleepy snores. Those days are gone for me but so sweet to imagine.
Sweetness! I struggled when my younger son gave up naps before two. A three hour nap proves he was tired!