Nap=Writing

Westly just made the official transition from two naps to one nap. At first I wasn’t sure how I’d like it. For the past 6 months I liked having two breaks during the day, especially that morning nap. You see, Westly did not sleep more than four hours at a time at night until he was 10 months old. And a four-hour stretch was a good night; he averaged waking every 2-3 hours. Yes, I’ve heard every solution under the sun, and tried just as many and nothing worked.

I am and have always been someone who valued her sleep. Even in my high school and college years, I had to get a minimum of 8 hrs a night to function properly. So this whole sleep-deprivation hit me hard when West came. I had no problem adjusting to his entry into the world: I was fine giving up work, giving up dates, postponing traveling, putting my love life on hold, and going up a few dress sizes.

But up all night?

Big problem.

So during Westly’s morning nap, I would either go back to sleep, or curl up with a good book…and fall asleep, or do my Quiet Time with the Lord…and fall asleep, or do some writing exercises…and fall asleep.

My prayer journal was filled with deep, moving prayers like  Lord, give me the gift of deafness to tune out his wails. OR Lord, give me wisdom about which tranquilizer to give him. OR  Lord, MAKE HIM SLEEP!

Finally, it happened when West was about 10 months old. For whatever reason, he started sleeping longer stretches until he was technically sleeping through the night. Which meant more sleep for me, which meant fewer naps for me, which meant more time for other things like writing.

Now that West has transitioned to one long nap of the day, my writing is really taking off because I have more time and energy for it. Instead of having to make aggravating choices over how to spend his nap time—like, sleep or write or pray or clean or—I can do it all!

This doesn’t mean I am always productive, especially when it comes to writing. There are still days when housework piles up, or appointments mess up the daily routine, or hormones make me more tired than usual, or worst of all…

I get writer’s block.

But that’s another issue…and another blog.