Guess who is getting older?
Guess who is not happy about it?
That’s right….Geetle. As part of my 7 Step Master Nap Plan, Geetle has started walking home from the bus by herself. And she hates it….or so she says. Not really. Actually she is quite proud of herself, she just does not like being told what to do and is somehow afraid that little things like this mean that someday she has to move out and live alone (which she will tell you, she does NOT intend to do).
My 7 Step Master Nap Plan is actually a plan for Giggles, to cut back from 2 naps to 1 nap a day. Yes, it needs to be a 7 Step Master Plan, every parent knows that.. My steps are this:
1. Geetle begins walking herself home from school at 11:10, thereby freeing me and Giggles from walking to the end of the block to get her every day.
2. Giggles still wakes up at 6:00 with the big kids (as long as she wants to) and we push her morning nap back later and later each day. If she is still napping at 11:10, she can stay asleep, thanks to item #1. If she is not awake by 12:00, we wake her up. That’s the penalty for falling asleep before lunch.
3. Within a few weeks the “morning nap” is happening after lunch.
4. Giggles becomes familiar with her basement playpen, growing to love it as a cage-away-from-home. Thereby allowing me to put her in there while I work Tues, Thurs, Fri mornings from 8:30 -11:00.
5. The morning nap is now the one and only afternoon nap. Its time varies, but its generally from “after lunch” to “snacktime”. The times of those meals will vary depending on when she sleeps.
6. The nap becomes more predictable as we shoot for the prime window of 1:00-3:00.
7. Giggles is now a one-napper…and loving it.
So, Geetle did walk herself home today. I went out to the driveway, as I plan to do all the time, and watched her. She stopped once to pick up a leaf. Then she started running thru the sidewalk snow piles, happy as a clam. I was going to take her picture, but my battery died. Here is one of her route:
The bus pulls up at the stop sign and I can just see her winter hat bobbing along the sidewalk. Then she comes up the little hill and I can see her smiling. Independence for Geetle, nap development for Giggles, one less mom-function for me to do every day (well except for the new nap orchestrating project that I have now undertaken.)
In case you are wondering, these are Geetle’s rules for walking safety:
I make her read them to me every day before school.
And here is a picture of Giggles when she is sleepy:
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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Well done! Isn’t it critical to have a plan? I have a friend who just figured things were getting wonky and up and decided to switch the kids one day to one nap. It was OK the first couple of days, and has been a train wreck ever since. It’s been several months, and her kids never quite recovered from the change. I have her to thank, in part, for my approach to the transition. Nothing like having a friend with kids a few months older than your own…
I think that is a great plan! I think it is great that Geetle is now walking herself home from the bus stop. Little independences like that are so important. I think it will make it easier for the bigger transitions that are coming (going to a different grade at school, etc.).
I am sure it will work “most of the time” The” fly by the seat of your pants” method worked for me but the new millenium is soooooooo different. Love MOM
New site opportunity for BAGD: Set up a wiki where people can create and edit articles on parenting “best practices”.
Maybe there’s one already out there, but it doesn’t have the power of the “BAGx” brand behind it.