The words we all hope to hear, someday, right?

And they were pronounced with great sincerity by our 3-year-old yesterday!

It was a doozy of a day, with grumpiness and lots of crying and crabbiness from the very start. We were expecting a friend (big brother S’s age) over to play in the pool, and I tried to suggest a nap after lunch, but no way! So, we crossed our fingers, and the friend arrived. We were all in the pool, and the two older boys decided to go inside and play for awhile. J decided he wanted to follow them, but lost it when I asked S to close the door after him. J dissolved in tears, convinced that S had locked the door, and didn’t want to play with him. Even when we got to the door and opened it, J remained unconvinced that he was welcome to join the play. This display of irrationality was just the last in a series of outbursts, so it seemed clear that a nap was desperately in order.

But J, of course, and fought it tooth and nail (not quite literally, but lots of flailing!). After 20 minutes or so, dad took a turn, and had as little success as I. Then, S came out and said “Daddy wants you”, so back up I went. But by this time, J was pretty worn down, and we read two stories, and he finally gave in to the inevitable.

He slept at least 2 hours.

And, then, when he was back in our midst, he said quietly to me “Mommy, you were right; I did need a nap.”. You could have blown me over with a feather! I replied “So you feel better than you did before your nap?” and he said “Yes.” I tried to reinforce this insight by asking him if he can try to remember this the next time we tell him he needs a nap. He sweetly assured me he would. We’ll see…