So it turns out that Caitlin and I ended up with a child that hates napping. The irony of this genetic improbability is not lost on either of us. While I don’t actually nap nearly as much as I would like, the concept of napping still occupies a fond place in my heart. Unfortunately, most of all the time spent warmly contemplating naptime’s beauty, unsurprisingly, is done while fully awake. Standing in stark contrast is Ryder who apparently has made it his business to sully naptime’s good name. Very often when we try to put him down for a nap, he contorts and thrashes wildly.

Recently, an analogy occurred to me with regards to the naptime process. It goes like this: Ryder is a sack of sand and I’m Indiana Jones; it’s my job to safely switch this sack of sand with the equally-weighted golden idol counterpart. Without a steady hand, I will trigger the myriad booby traps guarding the idol. Although I generally believe myself to have the requisite steady hand, I always end up running from the ruins chased by giant stones, poisonous darts, and cannibals. Naptime is exciting.

To drive home this belabored point, it’s informative to mention Ryder’s activity reports from day care. A staff member writes up his activities and accomplishments during the day, and we bring it home with us and review it. This activity report contains information such as the frequency and nature of his bowel movements. I brought him home from day care last Thursday; upon arrival home, Caitlin and I reviewed his report. The first entry under sleep was “9:00AM – Refused nap.” This might seem quite insignificant, until one understands – the people who prepare these activity reports don’t write down times when a child or infant isn’t sleeping – they simply make note of the times a child does sleep. I suppose such activity report could be crafted, but the potential for absurdity is apparent: “9:35 – 10:15 – not asleep; 10:45 – 2:00 – not asleep, etc.” We realized that our son’s opposition to napping runs so deep that the day care staff felt compelled to actively record this idea: Your boy hates naps.