The Elusive Nap

Sunday is my favorite day. I see Sunday as both an end and a beginning. Sunday is both the period and the next capital letter. I know it is the first day of the week, but with today's busy lifestyle it also serves as the ending to the previous week. Or, at least I think so.

On Sunday, we have the privilege of going to a church we love with people we love. We get to listen to a wonderful and timely word from the Lord, participate in moving worship, and partake of the Lord's table. Every. Sunday. And, I don't know if that is the grand finale of the week or a great prelude to the upcoming week; but either way, it is good.

After church, we usually go out to get something to eat. Sometimes, friends join us and sometimes my brother will get some extra time with the kids and eat with us. But, regardless, who doesn't enjoy getting your tummy full on a meal you didn't have to prepare served on dishes you don't have to clean up? Yes, my friends, the after church Sunday dinner is a good thing too.

On a perfect Sunday, we would come home and settle down for some quiet time. The kids would happily and quietly entertain themselves, and I would settle in to a good spot and unfold the Sunday paper (yet another aspect of Sunday that I love). I would read the paper or the Parade magazine until my eyes got heavy and then I would peacefully sleep, uninterrupted for about an hour. Brad usually goes straight for the nap and is asleep in about 3.2 seconds, but that is another post......

Anyway, the perfect Sunday would continue by eating a light bite with my family for supper and then spending some family time together. Nothing too involved or strenuous, maybe a quick walk around the neighborhood or, Bryce & Brad throwing the ball while Sara Kate and I play with sidewalk chalk. After a few hours, we would have our devotion time and the kids would go to bed.

This is the time when Sunday converts to the beginning of a new week. At some point on a Sunday evening (I imagine especially when school starts) I try to look at the calendar and see what my week looks like. In a perfect utopia kind of world, this would be the time when I thought about what Bryce would wear to school this week and try to think (only think) about dinner possibilities for the coming week. As far as I know, we don't live in a utopia, so I don't usually get that far, but I do try to just make a mental note of what my week holds. After that, I would head to bed and watch the food network or the nightly news until I drifted off to la la land.

That my friends, would be the most absolutely supreme and perfect Sunday. It has all the elements. Spiritual feeding, physical feeding, alone time, together time, down time and a time to prepare for the upcoming week.

Sunday is still my favorite day, but just ask me how many perfect Sunday's I've had the last 3 years. Go ahead, ask! At best my friends, a pitiful handful. I'd say less than 5. And, you want to know where it all goes wrong? Because rest assured, I know exactly where we detour. It's the nap. The all elusive nap. And I've decided the reason is two fold. I came to this conclusion when I was laying in the floor in my son's bedroom in an attempt to find a quiet place in my house. Trust me, I had plenty of time to mull it over.

The two reasons are: 1) My kids don't enjoy naps and they couldn't be quiet if their life depended on it (trust me, it has and they can't) 2) the hardwood or tile floors and open floor plan of my house make it more difficult to find a quiet place than finding a needle in a haystack.

I am one of those cursed people who has to have it quiet to be able to sleep. Yet again, this is another area where my extroverted personality comes back to bite me in the tail. If I hear stuff, I think there must be something going on that I need to be a part of. I can't even fall asleep with the radio on because I have this annoying need to sing along with every song. As far as I know, you can't sing & sleep at the same time. Trust me, if you could, I would probably have it figured out by now. And, never fear, if this is something that could be done Sara Kate would've have mastered it months ago.

It's not that I mind that the kids don't take a nap. It's the fact that whatever they happen to be doing at any given moment can be heard in the next town......um, I mean room and/or floor. We've tried movies upstairs in the play room, but Bryce doesn't sit when he watches movies, he jumps and twists and kicks things and goodness only know what else. That normally wouldn't matter, except that our bedroom is just below the playroom, so all I hear is thud, bang, thud. We've tried letting them play on the computer. But again, the computer is in the kitchen (right off from our bedroom) and all the sounds from video games makes me twitch. And, I haven't even mentioned Sara Kate yet, who literally walks around as if she is starring in her own little musical all. the. time. Today, I was trying to catch some winks on the couch (the first place I started out) and she "flitters" up to my feet to give them a little tickle. Ticklish or not, when you're about to nod off into the land of peacefulness it is NEVER funny to get a tickle. What is funny however, is that Brad was asleep (he never has issues with sleeping) in our bedroom and she kept intermittenly doing the same thing to him (sweet justice, I say). But, where did she learn these sinister torture tactics?

Oh well y'all, a girl can dream can't she? But, then again, aren't you usually asleep when you're dreaming? I can't even dream..............maybe I'll wish.

Here's wishing for the absolute, supremely perfect Sunday..........next week.

Enjoy your week everybody!