After refusing a nap for the past several days in a row, Benjamin stayed up until nearly 11:00 last night. Then he tried to wake up at 7:00 this morning after waking up at around 1:30 AM needing a snuggle before he could go back to bed and then eventually joining us in bed around 3:00 AM.
He spent the morning flip-flopping from a frenzy of activity one moment, falling into a nearly catatonic state the next. Let's play! Let's play! Let's play! Let's just sit here and unblinkingly stare at nothing. Let's play! Let's play! Sit and stare at nothing, mouth wide open.
He's tired. And when he's tired he forgets that he's potty trained. So he pooped his pants and I dealt with it alright. I took him potty. He finished up his business. We talked about the appropriate way to tell Mommy when you need help going potty. We returned to our interrupted activity (reading lessons with Miriam) and just a few minutes later he pooped his pants again.
This time I got angry. And that might be a potty-training no-no but, honestly, I'm tired, too!
"Benjamin!" I chided. "You just went to the bathroom. You said you were finished. If you weren't finished you should have told me. We just talked about this! You're supposed to tell me when you need to go. You do not just sit there and go in your pants. That's disgusting."
I continued to lecture him while cleaning him off.
"When I'm finished you're going down for a nap. I don't even care if you take a nap—you're going down for one."
I put him in his bed, leaving him to scream "No! No! No!" at the top of his lungs in solitude.
His cries quieted down while Miriam finished reading her story to me.
I sneaked into his room to check on him. He was still awake—but also still in bed—sniffling quiet tears while feeling awfully sorry for himself.
We had a quieter, saner discussion about going potty and about maybe still needing naps. He protested a bit but stayed in his bed and now he's fast asleep—thank goodness! I don't know if it's because it's so terribly stormy outside that his room is dark enough for him to fall asleep without feeling like he's burning daylight (maybe we need darker curtains for his room) or if he's just gone some many days in a row without sleeping that he honestly can't fight it anymore. Whatever the reason, I'm happy to see him sleeping and I think I'll join him in a minute.
Miriam's happily finished her chores. Yesterday she was so funny while she was cleaning. She finished unloading the dishwasher and then volunteered to clean the bathroom. While she was helping me fold the laundry she said, "So, do we have someone coming over today?"
"No," I said.
"Is it Saturday?" she asked.
"Then why are we cleaning?" she asked.
I explained that there is housework to be done everyday (how she failed to notice this before is a mystery) and told her that I was very grateful for her help.
"You're welcome," she said. "But, like, I'm earning something with this, right? Like, I've done a lot of work... I deserve to watch a show or something, right?"
Well, today she definitely does. While she's happily watching Dinosaur Train and Benjamin's actually sleeping in his own bed, I'm going to go sleep in my bed. Without anyone's feet in my face.
He spent the morning flip-flopping from a frenzy of activity one moment, falling into a nearly catatonic state the next. Let's play! Let's play! Let's play! Let's just sit here and unblinkingly stare at nothing. Let's play! Let's play! Sit and stare at nothing, mouth wide open.
He's tired. And when he's tired he forgets that he's potty trained. So he pooped his pants and I dealt with it alright. I took him potty. He finished up his business. We talked about the appropriate way to tell Mommy when you need help going potty. We returned to our interrupted activity (reading lessons with Miriam) and just a few minutes later he pooped his pants again.
This time I got angry. And that might be a potty-training no-no but, honestly, I'm tired, too!
"Benjamin!" I chided. "You just went to the bathroom. You said you were finished. If you weren't finished you should have told me. We just talked about this! You're supposed to tell me when you need to go. You do not just sit there and go in your pants. That's disgusting."
I continued to lecture him while cleaning him off.
"When I'm finished you're going down for a nap. I don't even care if you take a nap—you're going down for one."
I put him in his bed, leaving him to scream "No! No! No!" at the top of his lungs in solitude.
His cries quieted down while Miriam finished reading her story to me.
I sneaked into his room to check on him. He was still awake—but also still in bed—sniffling quiet tears while feeling awfully sorry for himself.
We had a quieter, saner discussion about going potty and about maybe still needing naps. He protested a bit but stayed in his bed and now he's fast asleep—thank goodness! I don't know if it's because it's so terribly stormy outside that his room is dark enough for him to fall asleep without feeling like he's burning daylight (maybe we need darker curtains for his room) or if he's just gone some many days in a row without sleeping that he honestly can't fight it anymore. Whatever the reason, I'm happy to see him sleeping and I think I'll join him in a minute.
Miriam's happily finished her chores. Yesterday she was so funny while she was cleaning. She finished unloading the dishwasher and then volunteered to clean the bathroom. While she was helping me fold the laundry she said, "So, do we have someone coming over today?"
"No," I said.
"Is it Saturday?" she asked.
"Then why are we cleaning?" she asked.
I explained that there is housework to be done everyday (how she failed to notice this before is a mystery) and told her that I was very grateful for her help.
"You're welcome," she said. "But, like, I'm earning something with this, right? Like, I've done a lot of work... I deserve to watch a show or something, right?"
Well, today she definitely does. While she's happily watching Dinosaur Train and Benjamin's actually sleeping in his own bed, I'm going to go sleep in my bed. Without anyone's feet in my face.
Yes, it's a lovely afternoon for a nap. I hope you got a nice, restful one!
ReplyDeleteMy nephew would use that same logic. "Look! See? The sun is shining. The sun wakes us up. We don't sleep when the sun is out," when he was refusing to nap within the last few months.
Sure am glad Miriam was rewarded for all her hard work! :)