Naptime

This morning I babysat for a few adorable little babies. It is a fun time for me, I like babies, and for the most part babies like me.

For the most part.

Today was the other part.

Two cute crawling, toddling little dudes were not excited to spend time with me today.

One little guy wiggled, fussed, wiggled some more, wiped his eyes, doo dooed his pants and refused to give in to his obvious sleep cravings.

The other sleep deprived, slightly terrified little guy seemed to be operating on three basic principles.

1. He was upset.
2. His mom was the only person in the universe who could provide him comfort.
3. I was not her. 

I survived the morning and the little darlings did too. (One eventually concluded I was okay but still refused to sleep, the other one’s mom, aka the Calvary, was summoned and saved the day.)

So imagine then, a few hours later, I am acting very much like the little fellas I just tried to soothe into slumber. I was sad, moody, irritated. I found myself vacuuming like crazy, doing the dishes and generally working myself up into a frenzy instead of doing what I knew I needed to do.

Take a $#&%@ nap.

The symbols were warranted.

Thinking back on this week, I realized I was stressed. I had work things going on. I had a dear dear friend’s surprise birthday party to help with. (She was surprised and happy.) I have big life things on my mind. And I had spent several days last week in bed with the flu, throwing off my week and my mood. (Don’t worry, I was not contagious today when I was with the little fellas.)

Why didn’t I just rest when I needed to? 

It got me thinking….

Why don’t we all just rest when we need to? 

How many of us go from social thing to social thing. Work insanely long hours. Watch netflix instead of sleep. We check email at stop lights. Our phones come with us to bed. (See previous post.) If we all stopped and thought about it, it's kinda nutty how much on the go we are. We hate the pause button. We don't have the patience for it.

It seems like we are building a society at where sleep is optional and rest is frowned upon. To take a few minutes to restore and rejuvenate is slapping efficiency in the face. It is just wasted time. And time needs to be filled.

I don’t know about you but the majority of the people I know answer the following question like this:

Me: How are you doing?

Them: I am good, tired, but good.

Variations on tired include: busy, stressed, under the weather, frazzled, things are hectic, work is hectic, kids are stressful, kids schedules are stressful, eventful, things are crazy

And here is my question to all of us:

When did we decide that stressful, busy, tired, crazy, etc, fit in so easily with the phrase good?

Are we REALLY doing good if we are so tired out all the time?

Why do we call that kind of life good?

Could it be different?

There are many reasons why I think we are all tired. Many that I want to discuss another time. But for now, I want to start with a simple premise to help all of us out.

Naptime.

That’s right, it's time to channel kindergarten. Remember days at camp when you took a nap after lunch before you swam. Resurrect the Sunday afternoon nap. If you are a boss, put a nap room in your corporate break room. Let’s put them in teacher lounges too. Start looking for more hammocks. Rocking chairs. Leave pillows. Cool grass. Sweet gentle breezes.

The babies this morning and (me this afternoon) would have had a much better day if they just closed their eyes and rested. They just needed to nap.

I think we do too.

So, in light of the fact that we are supposed to be role models to the next generation, I am heading off to bed.  

Sweet dreams everyone.