Nap Time Warrior

I knew that naps were important before I had a baby. But I had no idea how crucial they are.

These days naps are my lifeline.

When that pink, cooing, eating, squawking, diaper-filling child arrived in our home, I took for granted how much she slept. Sure, the naps were not long, but they were often. The night time sleep was similar to napping, too. Short and sweet. It was all I could do to eat, sleep, take a million pictures of her tiny face, and shower during those early weeks.

Then we lived through a period in which she only napped for 35 minutes at a time. On the dot. It was enough to make me quite crazy. There was nothing of significance that could be accomplished in 35 minutes so I didn't even try. I cried a lot.

When I managed to settle her into taking two naps, I was elated. I had a schedule I could count on! She would nap for a total of 4 hours each day. Four whole hours. Finally, I could begin to pick up our home from the shambles it had become during the 35-minute nap period; and I even had time to relax.

Another hard spot came when she went to only one nap. I have to choose whether to take time for myself, or to get something useful done.

As I took an assessment of my days I realized that I do have a regular period daily in which I do not have a delightful little person on my leg clamoring for my full attention. There are hours available to me, if I will just take them.

This was highlighted by the words in Ephesians 5:8-17, specifically these two verses:

See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. (v.15-16, NKJV, italics mine)

It requires some discipline, and I believe it will require some accountability.

This is where the Nap Time Warrior comes in.

Weekend warriors are the folks who try to fit as much into their weekend as possible, be it sports, yard work, DIY projects, whatever they can do with a great burst of enthusiasm, and then go on with their routines the rest of the week.

I have brief spurts of time, a couple hours here, a couple hours there. But the key is that they are available to me, and I am responsible for how I use them.

Some days I will lace up my shoes, grin and bear it, and exercise. Other days I will use the time to prepare dinner. Still other days I will write a blog post or two, or make phone calls, or pay bills, or clean, or put away laundry. Some days I may only sit with a book and a cup of coffee and that will be how I choose to enjoy spoils of victory. And there will be the nap times that get frittered away. I hope to have fewer of those days.

What about you? What do you plan to do during the next nap?

And if you're not in the stage of having napping children, what do you do between getting home from work and eating dinner or going to bed? Or during your lunch hour?