My favorite time of any day is after the kids are in bed at night and it’s just Kile and I hanging out together. Usually we’re watching tv or a movie. I’m knitting, he’s playing around on his iPhone or laptop. But we’re together and it’s peaceful and we can relax and unwind together.
But my second favorite would have to be naptime.
I know how this looks: as though I’m all about getting away from the kids. Which isn’t to say that I don’t love and enjoy them when they’re awake. The weekends were in close contention for second place because it’s always so nice to hang out as a family for a few days. I’m so looking forward to next week when we go to Tahoe and have some SERIOUS family time. It’s going to be awesome.
But yes, I love the naptime.
After lunch, I gather the little ones up, give them sippy cups full of milk, make sure they have clean and dry pants on and send them up to bed. Liam doesn’t always nap. In fact, I’d say he USUALLY doesn’t nap. But he plays in his room quietly for the duration of “naptime” and I am SO grateful for that. I’ve found that he seems to enjoy the chance to play with the toys in his room alone without me hounding him about one thing or another or Evie running off with his favorite car.
Evie does still nap and if she does not have a nap for whatever reason (usually on the weekends while we’re out running around town), she gets hilariously crabby. So I lay her down in her crib after lunch and she cuddles into the mattress while I pile the blankets on top of her (in the correct order: crochet baby blanket first, followed by the kitty quilt her aunt made her for Christmas). “Nye, nye” she says.
And during these Blessed Hours, I can take a shower, dye yarn, wind yarn into yarn cakes (which isn’t as fun as it sounds), knit, do various and sundry chores and watch what I want to watch.
Getting to watch what I want to watch is a huge deal. Generally during the day, it’s all about the kids. Nick Jr or the latest Disney DVD or whatever else is requested (“No, Liam. We’re NOT watching “Cars” again. I need a break.”). I can cue up whatever is playing on HBO or any of the other premium movie channels or find something I’ve already recorded on the DVR. If I’m feeling more specific, I’ll stick in a DVD. This is my chance to watch what I feel like watching without anyone else’s input.
Sometime’s I watch fun movies like “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion” or “Zoolander”. Sometimes I want something a little more thought provoking like “Seven Pounds” or “The Green Mile.” Or maybe I’m in the mood for some “Sense and Sensibility” or “You, Me and Dupree”. Whatever I want. It’s marvelous.
Though I’ve instituted a ban on “Marley and Me”. I love Owen Wilson, god bless him, and he’s wonderful as usual in that movie. But it makes me do the ugly cry and I just can’t do it anymore. The Blessed Hours are for fun, not for sobbing headaches. It’s for fun. And maybe some Cheetos.
Some day I won’t have the Blessed Hours (and then, some day, the Blessed Hours will extend from the hours of 9-4 or so and that will be AWESOME-SAUCE). But I will have these fond memories to look back. The Blessed Hours help me keep my sanity. And we all want me to have my sanity. Yes, we do.
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I used to live for nap times. The kids would say they were not tried. I would tell tem they had to take a nap because I was tired. They also had to were sweaters when i was cold.
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