Surrender

Well, the day finally came. The girls have always been the best sleepers and at 4.2 years old, I'm grateful that their naps have lasted this long. Yesterday was the day that I just felt like maybe we should try making it without a nap? Over the last couple of months, naps have been hit or miss. There were some days when naps were easy and no problem at all- they'd sleep for 3 hours if I let them. Other days, it seemed like I was spending most of my afternoon just trying to get them to nap or play quietly in their room. Let's face it, a big part of why I've been prolonging the no-nap situation is because I've become quite used to having my own "alone time", come 1:00. Yesterday, I came to terms with the fact that for the last couple of months, I've been battling myself, more than my kids. The reality is that if my kids didn't nap, I'd have to come up with more ways to engage them, inevitably put out more arguments, and basically, teach, discipline and love, all day long! Remember, TV is not an option for us anymore.

So, what did we do yesterday with all our waking hours?

In the morning, we met some friends at the park before checking out the new dance studio where I registered the girls for their dance class next month. We came home for lunch and did some reading and playing. After making the decision to fore go the nap, I took my girls up on their sweet offer the day before. Without any prompting, Grace said, "Mama, I wanna give away my dolly (Belle) to someone who doesn't have one because I have lots of dollies." Given my approving response to her and not to be outdone... Faith then says, "Mama, I think we should give away 2 of our hula hoops to someone who doesn't have one because we don't really need 4 of them."

I praised them for thinking about others and it truly warmed my heart to hear those words coming from the lips of my babes.

I thought this would be a great time to take them up on their sweet offer so we started going through their stuff. They end up with two big bags full of toys that they were more than willing to part with, including a baby stroller that they only had two of. They told me that they could just share the one they have (I know, insert happy tear here). We packed up the van at 2:00 and went to Goodwill to drop off the bags. The girls asked me to open the van door so that they could talk to the man who was collecting the donations. They asked him if he would kindly give their toys to other kids who really need them (insert another happy tear here). Afterwards, we stopped by the library to check out some books and read some more. By the time we got home, it was a little after 3:00. We excitedly read two more of their new books before I decided to give them an afternoon treat outside (popsicles). Then the girls spent over an hour playing in the pool. All in all, they did great without a nap. There were a couple of instances where nothing was about to turn into something but they got a hold of it quickly and I managed to talk them through, before it ever became an issue.

Around 7:00 last night, I just sat there and realized-- we had made it. More than that, I realized that all along, I was trying to hold on to my precious alone time and God, in His infinite wisdom and grace was quietly whispering "Catherine, just let go~ I have something better for you. I have something that's going to challenge you, bless you, and fill you with more goodness and love than you can imagine." Engaging my kids and coming up with more ways to interact and grow with them precedes anything that I could possibly do during my alone time. I had finally surrendered. I had seen the light (once again) and I am so grateful for this lesson. This is what I'm meant to do. Not only for my kids but also to help me grow into the woman that God wants me to be. I know that God was so good to bless me with a good first day, just so I could see what it could be like. We have an big adjustment period ahead of us now and I know there will be other days, depending on the situation, where they will definitely need a nap but for the most part, we are moving on to a new stage...

I just had to sit and smile at God last night. He's proven time and time again that He's always got something better for us, if we would only learn to surrender...