Silence is Golden

Nap time is sacred around our house. It's my one or two (and on a good day three!) hours of peace and calm. However, getting my kids to nap is so exhausting it makes me want to nap. Brooks HAS to climb into his crib himself. If you even attempt to lift him into his crib you've just set yourself back about 15 minutes because he flips out. He runs around his room and yells repeatedly, "No I do it! No I do it!" Once he's in his crib, which usually takes him about 5 minutes, he goes wild. He jumps up and down cheering, "I did it!" You try and act so excited for the little guy.. even though you're so tired and he's only done it about a thousand times before. The real trick is getting him to actually lay down. Typically he refuses and has a death grip on the rails of his crib. If you try and physically lay him down he pops right back up. And if you just leave the room with him standing there, watch out. He yells at the top of his lungs, "MOOOMMMMM!!" Which then wakes up Presley and then you've got a whole other mess on your hands. So lately I've started acting like a complete spaz when he lays down. I tell him, "put your head on the pillow and I'll cheer for you." Once he does I go bananas. I wave my arms in the air and swing my head around like I'm at a rock concert or something, "YOU DID IT!" I try to yell in a very quiet, yet very excited voice. He thinks it's the greatest thing he's ever seen. I feel like a total moron but it works (it's amazing the things you do for a little peace and quiet). After I've completed my victory dance for him, I sing Twinkle Twinkle and follow it up with a prayer (which by the way, instead of calling them prayers he calls them 'Dear God'. Sooo cute.). There are many days that I have to sing it at a much accelerated rate because Presley is screaming her head off. Sometimes I worry he'll think that's how fast the song is supposed be. Fortunately, Piper is pretty good about going to bed. If you tell her all the fun things you're going to do after naps (fun is so relative. We're talking simple things like printing Caillou coloring pages) she'll usually go down pretty well. But, that's when she takes center stage in her world. She usually spends about 15 or 20 minutes singing in her bed. And when I say sing, I mean belting it out. She puts on a full concert. So after about 30 minutes of hearing my little song bird, and occasionally hearing Brooksie chatter to himself.. it's usually quiet. I don't like any noise. I don't like any commotion. I don't like any movement from anyone other than me. Even the dog has to go to the basement. It's my one chance during the day to just catch my breath. To remind myself I'm not crazy. To just 'be'. Silence is golden... shhhh.