We are always talking about plans around our house…plans for the day, plans for dinner, plans for our next activity. I can now add “new afternoon plans” to the list.
Yes, I wrapped up my stint of naptime mourning, told myself to buck up, and pulled our “Time Out Frog” out of retirement to assist me on my new afternoon plan of attack.
About three years ago, I bought a “Time Out Frog” from a vendor at a Moms conference in Lansing. It is basically a stuffed animal with a timer sticking out of the tummy. At the time, I thought it would be a brilliant way to keep Madi in time out, but it didn’t do the trick and has been gathering dust in the back of a closet.
Until now…
On Friday, I told Madi and Parker that we were doing “rest time” and that they could read and play quietly, but they had to stay in their room until “froggy beeped”. Then I cranked Mr. Frog up to the maximum time (60 minutes), shut the door, went downstairs, turned on the video monitor, and held my breath…
…while Madi lounged on her bed, reading books all snuggled up, and Parker…well, he ran around the room, sang songs until Madi told him to be quiet, and jumped on the bed until I yelled up the stairs to knock it off…
The hour flew by, and the minute I heard the “froggy beep”, they were out the door and dashing down the stairs asking about what we were going to do next. But you know? It worked. Parker didn’t come downstairs after 20 minutes and Madi didn’t yell down once about being done…I consider that a success.
Lessons learned?
- Adjusting my approach is sometimes all I need to do
- I can’t assume that Parker is going to do things the same as Madi
- I can’t make them nap
- I will get my alone time in about a decade or so…might as well enjoy the craziness!
