Now that I have a kid that will nap past the age of 18 months, I decided it was time my other child, 3.5 years, have at least some quiet time each day. This used to be a constant power struggle and she would stay occupied for maybe five or ten minutes at a time. I would just spend her entire quiet time trying to get her back into her room and get nothing accomplished in the process. So here's what we started doing. Every day right when my son goes down for his nap, she goes in her room for quiet time. We get her tent set up and gather all the things that keep her in there busy. We always get the computer.
And her current stack of library books.
And (the key!) her water and snack.
This has worked for us amazingly well. In fact some days she tells me she wants to go to quiet time before I even bring it up. We set the timer on the microwave for one hour, and she always gives me a kiss "goodbye", and I tell her to have a good quiet time.
Then I go sit on the couch and eat bon-bons (Oh how I wish).
We don't do this on weekends, but I think she'd get burned out if I made her do it 7 days a week. This works for us now and I could not be happier about it.
Thanks for all of the comments and emails on my last post. I know family planning is very personal but I appreciate everyone's feedback.
Quiet time for older kids is important. I think it's great that you're doing this. I hear so many moms complaining about how their child "refuses" to take naps anymore. And I want to scratch my head and say "But you're the mom, not them!"
ReplyDeleteI've had all my children take "quiet times" well past their napping years and it's helped so much. It never hurt anyone to take time to relax and I think it's good for kids to learn that too. My 2 year old is having his "quiet time" right now. Sometimes he naps, other times he just plays, but he's always happier later.
Great post!