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Every toddler transitions from napping to not napping. This can be hard for us moms as we also lose our wonderful time of being able to breathe and rest for a moment. I particularly love naptime as I use it as my study time and quiet time with God. I was not looking forward to this stage of life for Avia, my second youngest. She is also our loudest child, other than Emma. How would I keep her quiet so Emma could nap? How could I keep my quiet time so I wouldn't miss out on my study time or my time with God?
At my baby shower after Emma had just been born, the hostess and a wonderful lady from my church, told me what her family does for naptime and quiet time. They call it "turtle time". It is when the whole family rests. Whether they nap or not, I do not know, but she did say that they sit quietly and read. At the time, I didn't know how impactful this was. I just thought, "Aw, that's a cute idea!"
Now we are here, in the present, with one toddler still taking (and much needing) an afternoon nap, while the other is transitioning out of them. Then it hit me: TURTLE TIME. Castle, books, blanket, baby. Eureka! I hit gold! I had bought Avia this little pop-up castle off Amazon last Christmas and thought she would really enjoy it to play in outside or even inside. It's become more of an inside toy, when set up. However, we had kept it put up and packed away because my dog could NOT handle the excitement of the girls popping in and out of it. There are rips in the floor of it to attest this! Avia LOVES her castle.
So I thought I would give "turtle time" a try. I set up Avia's castle. I made a cute little bed out of a thick, folded up fleece blanket and put her pillow and blanket in on top. I grabbed her non-noisy baby doll and tucked her in. I set some books and her doctor kits (combined into one kit) beside her "bed". Then came the test: would she stay quiet?
Well, the test came and went and this little, amazing, rambunctious, curious little girl stayed quiet! I dare say, she even rested a bit, too! So this has now become our routine at naptime - lunch, change Emma's diaper, get Avia into a pullup (in case she does fall asleep), lay Emma down, set up Avia's castle, and remind her to stay in the castle unless she has to go potty. Our conversation usually goes like this:
Me: "Ok, it's time to be quiet so Emma can nap and I can study, ok?"
Avia: "Ok."
Me: "You need to stay in your castle until she wakes up unless you have to pee, ok?"
Avia: *big smile* " 'Kay!"
And as she climbs into her castle to settle in and play quietly for the next 1-2 hours, I breathe a sigh of grateful rest.
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