Naptime is Sacred!

Seriously. Naptime is the best thing ever. Little Miss stopped napping the day we brought Mr Man home from the hospital. It was a very sad day for this mommy. Our current naptime routine consists of the following...

Mr Man sleeps from 1pm-4pm (sometimes a little less) and in those three hours I cram as much in as possible. Laundry, weeding, cleaning, reading, writing in my journal, prepping for dinner, spending time with Little Miss and reading to her...the time flies. But it is special. And without it I would be one frazzled mommy with a messy(er) house.

Naptime is a time to play catch up for me. Naptime is a time to give Little Miss some much needed one-on-one, my full undivided attention, an opportunity to make her feel extra special. Naptime is also extremely necessary and good for Mr Man...

Proper amounts of *restful* sleep are vital for brain development in children. Vital! And vital for mommy's sanity. So around our house we stop everything to make sure naptime is a consistent enjoyable experience for all. I schedule my day around it. My errands are done in the morning and I leave things that can be done during naptime, until naptime. So loud things - like vacuuming are done early in the day.

Consistency is the key. Same time everyday. Dark window treatments to block out the light and the same white noise Mr Man gets at night.

Because, naptime is sacred...

What are your naptime tricks and tips?

Hot Topic: Homeschooling

Okay...there's more to this post than homeschooling. And I want input! So please comment! I've been carefully considering, and reconsidering all of the educational possibilities once Little Miss is "of age" - which is a couple years off, but I want to make a decision by then, so....

Here are the options...public school, private school, charter school, home-school...or just leave her to her own devices and see how far she gets in life on play-doh and dollies...pretty sure she could make a career out of that. =)

I've been researching and I think it's pretty safe to say that for us, private school is off the list. Kind of pricey and not a lot of good options where we live. So - public, charter, or home...

Here is my list of pros and cons - please feel free to add to it or argue it, especially if you've had experience in one of the scenarios yourself - or with your kids.

Public

• Pros
• social interaction
• super easy for me
• Cons
• influence of dumb kids
• exposure at a young age to things I wouldn't want my kids exposed to
• the pace of learning can only go as fast as the other 25+ kids, for Little Miss this would be a problem - she'd get way bored

Charter

• Pros
• student paced learning
• social interaction + home more often
• tighter values & expectations for students
• Cons
• higher expense

Home

• Pros
• I would get to be WAY involved in the curriculum
• My innocent babies wouldn't be exposed to anything I didn't deam appropriate
• Nice and cheap!
• Peace of mind
• My weird obsession with school supplies would be useful...I know I don't need new pencils and notebooks every August - but I just can't help myself!
• Cons
• Less social interaction
• I wouldn't be able to teach them everything...like how to play the tuba - just saying. I don't know how...
• I might go crazy never getting a break from my little darlings
• The fear of completely failing & not being able to keep up
• Housework and all hobbies might go out the window - would I end up feeling like I lost myself?

So my dear readers...what are your thoughts and feelings on the options? Your experience? I might end up getting some guest posts from differing views on this one...I need help!