He'll Make You Pay!

Lately I've been trying to mess with Carson's naps to try and actually have a life. People think stay-at-home Mom's just stay at home all day and have all this time to sit around and smell the roses. Not quite. When I was expecting Carson I was one of those people who thought stay-at-home Mom's had so much time to get laundry, cooking and cleaning done. I was excited about having time to keep an organized house and thought I'd have it all together. Fast forward almost a year and our house looks like a disaster almost every day. The thing is, I never stop cleaning and everything still looks a mess!

Why is this happening? I guess here's what an average day looks like for me. 

6-630am- Carson wakes up 
7am- we play and eat breakfast
830-9am- Carson has a nap
10-1030am- Carson wakes up from his nap
1030am-12pm- my opportunity to do an errand or meet up with a friend
Noon- Carson eats lunch
1230-1pm- Carson's afternoon nap
230-3pm- Carson wakes up
4pm- Carson's dinner
6pm- Carson's bathtime
7pm- Carson's bedtime

Basically, my life revolves around Carson's naps. I'm stuck in the house otherwise. I do dishes 2-3 times a day. I have to shower while he naps or else he gets into all the cupboards in the bathroom or tries to eat toilet paper and rip down the shower curtain. (such a boy!)

I tried to have Carson nap at a friends house the other week and he wasn't having any of that. There was no way he was going to sleep somewhere else. So, I had to drive him home. All I wanted was some time to relax with a friend while he napped. Her baby is on the same sleep schedule as Carson so we figured it would be fine. Carson didn't think so.

 I sure paid for that. It took 2 whole days for Carson to start sleeping normally again. It was like going backwards. I was a mess about it. I felt like it was my fault for trying to do something different. I get about an hour of time to spend out of the house and then I have to go home, feed Carson his lunch and put him down for a nap. I just wanted more time to enjoy my friend and eat lunch without listening to my baby cry or worry about him getting into something or having him throw food at me while I try to eat.

The same thing happened when I took him to my parents. He had a great 2 hour morning nap, then only slept for 40 minutes in the afternoon. I didn't get home until 7pm (which is reasonable right??) and he didn't end up going to bed until almost 9pm! Teething may be the culprit here. He's just been so sensitive to sleep. I can't get away with anything. No fun for Mommy! 


It's frustrating, exhausting, stressful and tiring. I'm going to have to start having people come visit me from now on. Until Carson outgrows his morning nap, I have to accept that I have very limited time to accomplish my mountain of never ending chores, errands and every day life stuff (like having a shower or remembering to brush my teeth!).

I guess the moral of this story is that no matter what, Carson has to come first.  This baby will not let me change anything. He knows routine, he knows his bed and he wants his way or else he'll make you pay!