Without perspective and context, you don't always realize what you might be facing.
Within a few days of arriving home from India more than 14 months ago, we began to understand that Niranjana was a bright and energetic little girl. But we figured that comes with the territory when you're parents.
It wasn't until one of our friends - the mother of two little ones - proclaimed to us one day that "Niranjana is the most energetic child I have ever seen." And she's seen plenty of energetic children at preschools and daycares.
Now, when we watch our darling daughter run around the house or yard with seemingly reckless abandon and at a dizzying pace for amazing lengths of time, all we can do is shake our heads and laugh. I suspect she'll one day have a hurricane named after her.
It takes a long time for Niranjana to "shut down." When she finally does, she seems to be able to focus on quieter projects very well and for decent lengths of time.
Getting her to bed at a decent hour has been one of our greatest challenges. In recent months, we asked preschool to keep her from napping in the hope that she would go to bed earlier. We've made concerted efforts to get moving to bathtime no later than 8 p.m., which gets bedtime closer to 8:30. I don't know that we've yet to get her to sleep before 9:15, however. Often, she's pushing 10 p.m. because she just won't fall asleep.
If there were a way to harness this child's energy, our nation's dependence on oil might just evaporate.
Theme by Danetsoft and Danang Probo Sayekti inspired by Maksimer
Vija heads to bed around 8
Vija heads to bed around 8 or so and also takes about 45 minutes to fall asleep. It doesn't matter how early we move her nap or how late her bedtime is she consistently takes that long to fall asleep. She doesn't fuss or get mad, just lays there awake and talks to herself. As for the energy thing, oh do I understand!
Getting darker
Since Niranjana can't tell time (yet), it's actually gotten a little easier to get her going to bed earlier since daylight saving time ended and it's dark much earlier. Doesn't mean she actually sleeps earlier, but at least we're moving in that direction.
I don't look forward to when she actually knows what time it is ...
Aaah, but if she knows the
Aaah, but if she knows the time you can tell her she can't get up before a certain time! I'm looking forward to that. Vija started calling me at 6:45 this morning and I hadn't fallen asleep until 1! But, yes, the earlier sunset has helped us too, we actually moved her bedtime up 1/2 an hour without her knowing. This summer we had to hang blankets over the curtained windows because she wasn't going to sleep well in the light. But, I could go outside after she was sleep, that was nice.
Post new comment