Am I a horrible Mommy if I do a little happy dance in my head when my beloved baby takes a nap?
The happy dance doesn’t happen all the time, only sometimes. Just so I can shower, do some laundry, prepare dinner, or–if I am really feeling indulgent–read a few pages of a novel or watch a show I taped weeks ago on my DVR (sidebar: The Good Wife is my favorite since 24 went off the air)? Should I feel bad about silently praying to the nap fairy for a two-hour reprieve? And crossing my fingers that my stepdaughter is out of the house during nap time, too?
Because it makes me feel guilty. I grew up in a Jewish household, so I am no stranger to guilt, believe me, but MommyGuilt is the worst.
Sometimes my son will snuggle right next to me, exhausted with his eyes closed, and cry hysterically. I go through my nap refusal checklist (Well fed? Changed? Warm? Comfortable? Binky? Favorite blanket with a deranged looking monkey head? Check, check, check, check, check, check.), and he won’t give in to his tiredness. I lay next to him, give him his space, pick him up, put him down, sing (sometimes that can make him hysterical)…nothing works. By the way, nap refusal often occurs following his all night parties.
Those are the times I need him to nap like an alcoholic must need his next drink. Should I suffer from such a bad case of MommyGuilt?
To be continued tomorrow…
