To Nap or Not To Nap

Meredith has been in what seems like an in-between stage. She’s not yet a little girl, but not a baby; Not in diapers, but not in underwear; Not independent, but not as dependent. Part of this in-between has been the daily question- to nap, or not to nap. It’s really a crazy stage as if she doesn’t take a nap she is out by 8:00 p.m. and typically sleeps through the night. Perfect, it would seem, except one little thing- such as me not allowing her to eat olive oil for her snack the other night and endlessly trying to explain that you cook with it but do not necessarily eat it plain- puts her over the edge. If she naps we seem to have a much later bed time and more likely an interruption in the middle of the night. I’m all for taking my chances on no naps at this stage, but that doesn’t cut it at day care where all of the teachers, I mean kids, are required to rest after lunch. So we continue on tip toeing around and hiding the olive oil.

Meredith has really upped her pretend play. She is essentially pretending all day. This morning she was playing with a pretend cat. Most days she spends her time being the teacher- handing out the snacks and drinks, dividing out paper and crayons, reading the kids a story, putting them down for nap and yes, even disciplining them as she says, “Sarah, come over and sit down. It’s time to listen to the story.”

On Tuesday evening we had haircuts, so of course in preparation Meredith was pretending to be Ms. Lori and was cutting my hair. After she washed and combed it and was cutting it she said, “You went to Disney World? Did you like it? Did you see Mickey?” My 2.8 year is obviously watching everything and has mastered the art of small talk while cutting hair. Watch yourselves if you are around her as we may be pretending to be you later!