Saturday, February 9, 2008

The 5 Minute Car Seat Nap

This happens all too often.... Baby Princess falls asleep half a mile from home and wakes up as soon as I shut off the engine and open the door. Thus, completing the 5 minute carseat nap!

Invariably, this ruins any chance of a real nap. The 5 minute carseat nap is a powerful one that can get her through the rest of the day. Me? I need her to nap longer. Much much longer. But, noooooooooo! The 5 min power-nap ruins the whole day.

This short little nap doesn't mean we avoid a good case of the crabbies. Oh no. Even though she thinks she had a real nap, albeit a short one, she still has a short fuse for the rest of the day. It also doesn't mean we get the tot to bed any earlier. She can't tell time yet? Oh, please! I think she can!

Today is one of those lucky days. It's almost 8pm and currently, she is half naked and sliding down a slide of books that she built all by herself- Weeeee! - while running intermittent laps around the living room. Why am I letting her? Well, because I finally got her to quit jumping on the couch, that's why! And she won't keep her shirt on. That's an every day battle though. I don't think the 5 minute carseat nap had any effect on her aversion to wearing a shirt.

I love that quiet 2 hours in the middle of the day when she's napping and I can have a hot tea, put my feet up and read. Ahhhh! But not on the dreaded 5 minute Car Seat Nap day.

Her short fuse was getting the best of her tonight. She went bezerk with jealousy! We saw a whole new level of the toddler tantrum when we put the dog in the bathtub and not the baby. Oh, she was mad! And very jealous! As soon as the dog got out, we went upstairs to "her" tub and put her in and all was right with the world again. I guess if the dog gets a bath, so does Baby Princess.

On that note.... yes, we gave the dog a bath tonight. You see, my middle Princess went to the dog park to meet a boy there so she took the dog. She must have let the dog roll in the mud cuz when I picked her and the dog up, someone was very wet and muddy! And stinky!

The dog hung her head and did her best to avoid the tub. But I got her in there, shampooed her with Baby shampoo - extra conditioning! By the time I was ready to rinse her, my husband came in and took over because he said Gracie was screaming and crying too loud and I was cussing too much. Really? Oh, I didn't think a hundred cuss words were near enough. Ok, I wasn't in the mood to bathe the stinky muddy dog.

So after the dog's bath, Gracie got hers while the dog laid next to the tub and got dried and brushed and trimmed. She loves being brushed. I don't mind brushing her but I'm not crazy about trimming her dingleberries. Oh yes, I trimmed off her dingleberries. I also trimmed behind her ears and between her toes. She was forming armpit dreadlocks too. Gosh, when was the last time I washed the dog?

Next time, I'm not going to wash the dog on 5 min carseat nap day! I'm living and learning. This combination of events really ought to be avoided for sanity reasons.

6 comments:

Living With Cavemen said...

Whew, what a day for you! Glad to see Baby Princess got her second wind for you. Ah, the joys of motherhood.

Jenn @ Juggling Life said...

Way back when, when the price of gas was half what it is today, I would just keep driving!

Shelley said...

I always hated that too. For some reason, they are under the impression that they had a full nap. There should be a name precisely for that phenomenon.

I've come to the conclusion that third kids are just raving lunatics. Especially if they have teenage siblings. End of story. However, I think the dog and her dingleberries might have been a little bit of the TMI.

Fannie said...

GAAHH, the 5 minute car nap. The stuff of nightmares.

Holly (2 Kids and Tired) said...

I knew there was a reason we don't have a dog! And I remember the car seat nap days. I'm sorry!!

Anonymous said...

I can just picture Princess #3 screaming about the bath, the dog trying to get out of the tub while you try to talk to P. 3, you cursing the dog and the whole scenario. If it weren't so maddening I thing I would be laughing.

B.