nap time becomes my time...to do everything else

when pbs was first born i couldn't get anything done because i was limited in what i could do. when he was two months old i went back to work and js studied at home a few days a week. i would come home after work and take over the evening shift while js went to class and the library. one day a week pbs went to a friend's house who watched a couple of other kids and had three of her own. js and i switched nights so that one of us was able to get some sleep.

the move across the country when pbs was just four months old was interesting and challenging. we stayed someplace different almost every night, visited many of our friends and family along the way, saw 14 of the 50 states and much of their beautiful countryside. pbs and i would sleep while js drove. js would sleep at night and i would get up with pbs at least once a night. this worked well for all of us.

when we finally got moved into our new east coast home, js would go to class/study/library like he did on the west coast. pbs and i stayed home. we would venture out sometimes but it all seemed to revolve around nap time(s). pbs was taking three naps at one point, but is now down to one long nap.

now we seem to have a system. pbs and i try to get out a couple times a week, depending on the weather of course. some weeks we get out more than others. it all evens out. if we get out before his nap time, i consider that to be a pretty successful day. he may stay awake until we are on our way home or he may fall asleep while we are on our way to wherever we decide to go for the day. i'm not too strict about his nap times. i know that he needs to take a nap but he's pretty good about letting me know when he's tired. he doesn't get cranky or crabby. if we're home, he crawls up in my lap and rubs his eyes about the same time every day. i put him in his crib and listen for a few minutes until i know for sure that he's asleep. that's when my time starts.

i can grab a quick shower, some lunch, start the laundry, pick up some toys, books and cheerios, straighten up a little, maybe do some dishes, look/dream on my favorite stores' websites for things that i want/need, even play on this blog some. i know that i have at least an hour, sometimes as much as three hours but he seems to be averaging an hour and a half to two hours lately. that's how i spend my time...and now nap time has come to an end.