The Afternoon Nap

In the last couple of years at home with G, her daily afternoon nap has been of vital importance to both of us. She's usually been able to manage a good couple of hours every day, and it's helped her stay up late enough into the evening so Mrs J can see her before bedtime, while also allowing me the welcome chance to do some limited amounts of journalism work, something which has helped to keep me sane if nothing else.

She hasn't always gone down to sleep straight away. But when she was in her cot, it was easy enough to leave her fidgeting away, in the knowledge she'd drift off to sleep soon enough.

The arrival of G's proper bed has changed things a bit. If she doesn't want to go straight to sleep, she can now simply get out of bed and toddle back downstairs again, to pester me for another go on her train set.

Besides, as she's getting older, she probably doesn't need quite as much sleep as she used to. She's still prone to drifting off if she's in the car, as shown in the picture, but unless she looks as though she really needs it I'm going to stop giving her a snooze every day from now on. I suspect I'm going to miss G's daily nap more than she does.