Stories from the Stringam Family Ranches of Southern Alberta

From the 50s and 60s to today . . .



Tuesday, September 9, 2014

Momtime

Okay. Sometimes, it worked.
Naptime.
Next to bedtime, the highlight of a mother's day.
Or at least in my mother's day.
Mom was a great believer in the taking of naps.
It didn't matter if her children – ie. me -- weren't tired.
It they, meaning me, were willing and able to perform amazing feats of strength and energy. Provide positive proof that a nap definitely wasn't needed.
Someone needed a nap.
She would march me to my room.
Pull the blinds.
And point to the bed.
Sigh.
Reluctantly, I would lie down.
Mom would lie down beside me.
To make sure I stayed.
It worked.
I did stay.
Until she went to sleep.
See? One of us definitely needed a nap.
But I digress . . .
And that's when the skills I had learned over time at great personal cost came into play.
Let me describe . . .
First, I would slide out from under Mom's arm.
You have to know that this was only the beginning.
And, oddly enough, the easiest part.
Because once free of that arm, things got more complicated.
Mom was attuned to the slightest shift in the mattress.
I had to make sure that I didn't get careless and move too quickly.
Slowly, I would slide toward the edge of the bed.
An inch.
Another.
And carefully.
With long pauses between.
That fourteen inches of mattress looked mighty big at times.
And I didn't get a second chance if I got caught.
Countless times, I would have nearly reached my goal and Mom's eyes would snap open. “Diane! Get back here!”
Rats.
But there were glorious days when I was really sneaky, and would make it clear out to the living room before she noticed.
She would appear in the doorway, bleary-eyed and unsteady.
“Diane! What are you doing?”
It was a small victory.
But a victory nonetheless.

P.S. You know you're truly an adult when you no longer take naps.
But wish you did.

16 comments:

  1. Yep, naps are often for the moms as much as the kids!

    The photo is priceless!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mine wouldn't nap ... just wouldn't ... and I needed one so badly.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I was not a napper, and what you described up there? The EXACT thing we went through when my father decided HE needed a nap. :-)

    The mattress, the shifting of that mattress...

    What a wonderful memory. :-)

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
  4. Naps are completely wasted on the young. Sometimes I would check on my kids when they were napping, accidentally wake them up, and then have to drop to the floor and try to crawl out undetected -never worked!

    ReplyDelete
  5. My kids gave up afternoon naps before they were one year old. By the time they were two or three there was no napping at all, so I instigated quiet time. One hour each afternoon to be spent in their rooms, reading or drawing, didn't matter which, as long as they left me alone to rest, by which I mean read a book before starting dinner preparations.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Quiet time. What a grand idea! Where were you when my kids were small . . . Or me for that matter . . .

      Delete
  6. I made my children take naps until the oldest was 9 and the youngest was 6. They hated it, but I also needed it. We lived in the Mojave Desert, with the heat of the day right during nap time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yikes. Desert! I tend to sleep through the little heat wave we get up here in Edmonton every summer. Put me in the desert and I'd be unconscious forever . . .

      Delete
  7. Can I say how much I love that photo ... not to mention that high chair? LOVE! So of the era!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Carol! Me in fine form for my first birthday. That high chair seated my oldest baby as well! Both chair and baby - good and sturdy.

      Delete
  8. I remember naps...I sure miss them now!

    ReplyDelete

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