please don't call the authorities

I am afraid. Very, very afraid. I think Ellie has stopped napping. At least regularly. She hasn't napped for a week and a half. I do make her have quiet time in her bed every day though. That used to last for and hour and a half, now it is more like 15 minutes before she starts calling for me (MOMMY! IS IT GOOD MORNING TIME YET??) Fun. To say I am frustrated would be a huge understatement. I love nap time. That is me time. I usually sit in front of the TV for the first hour and eat my lunch and then get whatever done that needs done. Not so much these days. And what makes me so frustrated is that she is so freaking tired! When she goes to bed at night, she has these dark circles under her eyes and everything.

So yesterday, I went in to get her after no nap, again, and was quite frustrated again. I think at one point I told her she was driving me crazy. I then decide that I cannot stay in this house with a no napped toddler another day. I don't care if she falls asleep in the 7 minute car ride to the library, I will wake her butt up. I have to get out! So we go to the library (and she stays awake) and play for a bit.

Picture it. A quiet library. Only us and one other mother and daughter are in there. Quiet. Ellie and I are reading BUNNY SCHOOL and she looks up at me and goes:

"You not mean anymore Mommy, you being nice now!!"

Hmm. I chance a look at the other mother. Crap. She's smiling. She heard. I felt an overwhelming urge to explain everything to this mother. "She hasn't been napping. It's been a tough adjustment", etc... Instead I look down at Ellie and go:

"I wasn't mean, I was frustrated. There's a difference. You need to take a nap, honey"

I threw the "honey" in there for good measure. At least the other mother wasn't discreetly on her phone calling the authorities. I think she totally got it. I mean, only good mothers take their children to the library for play time, right? Right?

Then we went to Target for a little retail therapy.

Ugh. Then to top it all off, she was nodding off and so exhausted at 6:30 that I just put her to bed. It seemed mean to keep her up. Guess who was up at 4:30 this morning? I think you'll only need one guess. It's going to be a long day but totally worth it if she takes a freaking nap! One nap could get us back on schedule.

Here's hoping anyway.


This pic has nothing to do with the post. I just smile everytime I see it. They walked around the whole mall like that last weekend. People everywhere were laughing. I don't think Chris found it as funny as I did.