Julia Thompson wrote: > Sonja van Baardwijk-Holten wrote: > > Is there a place that Tom takes things to and leaves them there?Check
> there for your brain, he might have picked it up and put it somewhere > else. I've been looking for my own brain, plus a couple of alphabet > blocks that are missing right now. Thanks, found it. Aaaaah. Much better. Did you look in behind the radiator? Tom's favourite place to "hide" things.... > Julia > > p.s. what do you do when the kid doesn't want to go down for the nap at > the regular time, and when you finally get to where you have to put him > down for your own sanity and he falls asleep, he wakes up a lot earlier > than he ought to have? Options 1) Go insane 2) Accept it is happening.... again. Shrug it off and do something else to keep me from getting insane 3) Have a fit. 4) Put him in the box, then go into another room to sleep and let him find his own way. After a short tantrum he usually ends up peacefully playing with something that fascinates him for an hour or so untill I'm awake and sane again. (This actually works!, They told me that the child doesn't necessary need to be asleep during nap time and that nap time is actually more for my benefit than for his. So the advice was to put Tom in the box for one or two hours at a time two times a day to get some rest myself. I'm amazed at how well that works for my sanity. Of course you do have to endure that initial tantrum. But it gets shorter over time.) 5) When Tom wakes up too early take Tom to bed with me. Cuddle him up in my arms and fall asleep again. Usually one of the better options when I'm really very tired and there is nobody else around. The rest is all about prevention: 6) Go for a swim once a week so I have the rest of the day sort of off since Tom will then sleep for hours. I love Thursdays. 7) Take Tom for a walk (with him walking) through the neighbourhood or take Tom out on a bike tour for about an hour before nap time. He usually is tired enough after that. 8) Go shopping and hope he'll fall asleep in the buggy, then go home and sleep a bit myself. 9) Get Jeroen to take care of Tom so I can go to bed really early and also get him to take care of Tom the next morning so I have a long and restfull night. So I'm well rested for the next couple days 10) Go out for a cup of coffee and a chat. Since the people I go to for that also have kids, Tom is tired afterwards and can be put to bed without a hassle. 11) Ask my mom to take Tom out of my hands for a two night stay and let her worry. A little stay over once a month keeps me relatively sane and my mom happy. Off course the option I take is depending on weather, weekday, time of the day and availabillity of others and most important the state of fatigue I'm in. :o) Sonja, found my brain again and now it is time for breakfast as Tom urgently informs me by tugging on my skirt. He is right. FOOOOOOOOOD. _______________________________________________ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
