Our No Nap Afternoon

Afternoons are usually quiet at our house.  The kids go down for a nap around 2:30 or 3:00.  Christian is easy and goes to sleep in his room with just a kiss on the cheek.  Tes is a bit tougher, she lays down on our bed with a movie on, but she also usually naps for at least an hour.  While they sleep I run around cleaning and trying not to wake them up.  Lately this system has begun to break down.  For the past few days neither child has taken an afternoon nap but today I tried again anyway. 

At first it seemed like I was in the clear.  I left a seemingly sleepy Christian in his room and headed upstairs with Tes.  She went potty, picked a movie, and crawled into bed.  I sat with her for a few minutes while she watched the previews.  Just then, over the sound of Mozart playing from the baby monitor, I heard a little voice start to chat.  I sighed, but instead of the yelling I was expecting, Christian continued to talk to himself, happily, and so I just listened.  I started the movie for Tes and lay next to her listening to Christian chatting to some unseen toy about movies, balloons, and how he was going night nights.  Soon Tessie started chatting to me as well, obviously not anywhere close to napping.  I just relaxed for a minute and listened to both of my children talking about nothing. 

After a while Tessie turned to me and said “Mom, I just heard Bubbi say he wanted to come sleep with Tessie.”  I hadn’t heard any such thing but I smiled and said I would go get him.  When I walked into Christian’s room he was laying there wide awake and happy to see me.  We went back upstairs and I sat him on the bed next to his sister.  They watched the movie for a while, finally quiet now that they were in each other's company.  Even though I didn’t get my quiet afternoon I was happy to be a part of the beautiful moment of sibling togetherness.