Sleep is a difficult thing to understand. For some reason I don’t understand (though I’m sure science has its reasons) human beings need to spend a certain amount of each day in a state of inactivity. The fact that I find sleep, while refreshing, sort of annoying as an adult suggests that I can’t imagine a child’s confusion about he process. I used to, when I was younger, fight off sleep as something to be avoided. I couldn’t play with my toys while I slept, play games, or build towers and knock them down. Sleep, while important, has never seemed more important than the things I could be doing if I were awake. It seems our son has the same impression.
Our son fights off his daily nap unless we’re riding in a car or he’s lying in his mother’s arms. He’s very specific about these two situations being the only ones in which he’ll consider drifting off to sleep. This conflicts with his very much needed daily naps. Some days he’ll fight of sleeping to the point of falling asleep while eating (giving some memorable moments captured by camera for the future) and other days he simply won’t sleep until Mom gets home. He’s got a specific plan and he’s not interested in deviating from it. As a parent it’s sort of painful to watch him be so miserable yet still fight off sleeping. He’ll mope around, ask for things he doesn’t want, and half-engage in other activities just to avoid falling asleep. Someday this will change — for now sleep is an enemy. The crib is a jail cell and the pillow a torture device. A blanket is just a way to cover up fun and it’s not even close to naptime. Makes us parents regret getting nice furniture and cute sheets just a little bit. Oh well.