Prior to becoming a mom I am sure I looked forward to the event that would be known as napping-when-they-nap.
Advice at the shower included: nap when baby naps.
Words spoken to me when I looked/look tired: Nap when the tot naps.
Here's the thing: I am not a man-napper. I can not simply plop on a chair, couch, floor and commence snoring. I typically need time to unwind, pee, perhaps eat something that is non-nutritive but oh so yummy.
Once I am fed and watered and pottied it is possible that I could fall asleep. You know what is worse than no nap? Falling asleep and being woken up 10 minutes later.
Very few in my mom circle nap-when-they-nap. There are other things to do. This is not being a busy martyr mom. This is, for me, sanity saving.
For me, I find it incredibly rejuvenating to just be. To be quiet. To not be talked to. To numb my brain with screen time. To read a few pages of a book. To selfishly whittle away those moments doing whatever the heck I feel like doing.
My advice to new moms: do whatever the heck you want to do when they nap. As long as it isn't cocaine. Don't do that.
Good advice. I find a lot of people stress out about napping when they nap, and that during the struggle to fall asleep they get stressed out more and finally give up. Then you just feel bad for the rest of the day about how you couldn't sleep during that time. Much nicer to refresh and relax while they are down instead of struggling to do an activity everyone recommends.
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