Naps are wasted on the young...

My baby boy, Ian, is nearly 3. How this happens, I don't understand.

But it's hard to be a nearly three year old, you know?

He's in that awkward stage where he still needs a nap, but when he naps he stays up until the middle of the night. So sometimes, we try to do without a nap, but the whining, crying and the slobbery pile of toddler tantrum that inevitably results around 4pm when he doesn't nap makes all of us want to scratch our eyes out with plastic forks.

But sometimes, you just need a nap.

Sometimes you curl up on the couch with sister's blanket.

Sometimes (most of the time,) you fall asleep in the carseat.

Sometimes, church is too hard, so you fall asleep in the foyer.

And sometimes, it's even harder, so you fall dead asleep on your sisters' laps.

And sometimes, church is the hardest, and you fall asleep with your dad and a dish towel (who knows?) in the rocking chair.

  Sometimes, on a random Wednesday afternoon, you decide for reasons unknown, to fall asleep on the step of the garage, which makes your mom panic when she can't find you. Then, just as she's about to call the cops and your dad to report a missing kid, she nearly trips over you heading out to the garage.

 

 Sometimes, your macaroni and cheese doesn't cook fast enough, and you fall asleep mid-tantrum on the kitchen floor.

 Sometimes your naps make your parents so jealous they could spit.

 Sometimes, not even a stroller ride and a sucker will prevent an emergency nap.

And sometimes, you just need your brother to insure a good nap.