This is the best reason I've heard for why Dennis won't nap! I even, at a low point today, attempted a bribe. He wants an Optimus Prime mask (and costume, but especially the mask) very much, and I told him he'd get one if he'd nap at school. He informed me, "I'm going to wait until I'm a little bit bigger like the other boys--then I'll nap at school like they do." The other guys are four, also, but are about to turn five. This meant nothing to him because they are physically bigger!
Since he didn't nap, I spent the afternoon wearing him out. Lots of playground time (because NONE of the kids napped today, so I took them all back outside) followed by time at child care at the gym while I worked out, followed by a special Dennis-and-Mommy swim (we were fortunate to have the whole pool to ourselves) and hot tub (not very hot) time. By the time we made it to dinner (Uncle Denny's birthday dinner), he was nearly wiped out. He expired after an hour (big tears), and I carried him away crying. But I remembered something special about today. Dennis' class has something called a Chain of Kindness, loops of construction paper (like a Christmas chain) with children's names. If you perform an act of kindness, a loop is added to the chain with your name on it. His teacher hopes to surround the room. Dennis added a loop today for moving some chairs out of the way to keep anyone from tripping. He was very proud, and so was I. His tears dried up when I rewarded him with a Dollar Tree selection of his choice for his kindness (because we talked on the way to school this morning about doing kind things and he did it!). He was happily asleep within a half hour of our arrival home tonight.
I had to include the pic of him in his brand new Taekwondo uniform last night!
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