The Miserable Cat Napper!!

I'm not one of those mommas that keeps their kids on a very rigid schedule, but we do have a pretty standard routine over here. I mean, one day Amber might take a midday nap at 1:30 and maybe it'll be a little after 2 the next day, but there's schedule.

And it drives me BANANAS when we get thrown off. That's when I know I will have to pay for it for the remainder of the day and possibly the next day. And THIS is what makes me hate nights away from home, though what option do you really have when none of your family lives in town? Even with a place of their own to lay down for naps and nighttime, the girls just DON'T sleep as well when not at home, and I know they are going to be little irritable beasts the next day or two. I don't want to be a schedule nazi, but good Lord, I seriously am ready to lose it after a few hours of these two whining and cranky.

However, my BIGGEST annoyance by far is the miserable cat nap in the car. I swear, if either kid falls asleep for even a couple of minutes in the car, it jacks up the rest of my day!!! Amber very, very rarely sleeps in the car, and I used to think this was a pain. OH NO. I'd much rather Audrey not sleep in the car either because it's not quality sleep anyway and she won't take a good nap later. I thought I had stumbled upon a solution--keeping her supplied with juice, food or toys while driving--but that didn't work either, as she'll fall asleep with any of those.

And the saddest part is that she is SO out of sorts when we get home that she just follows me around crying to be held. I'll give in to a point, but who can spend their whole day walking around with a 20-pound growth? By 3:15 today I just couldn't take any more, so I put the poor child in her bed and just had to let her scream like a banshee till she passed out. I was only going to leave her in there a set amount of time to give myself a cooldown.

I don't remember where I read it, but I know somewhere I had seen that it was far better to let the kid scream in a safe place than risk being hurtful to them because you had reached your breaking point. And it's sad for me to admit that I actually get to a point where I feel like I might hurt the kid... damn this temper of mine!!! I know it sound nuts to even have written this, but I think more people feel like this on occasion than would admit to it. You just have to get a break sometimes to keep your own sanity!!