Nap guilt

It's funny. I am a "professional sleeper". I love to sleep. I've always loved to sleep. My husband used to be an early riser before he met me and now he loves to sleep. Some people can't nap. But me? I'd nap every day if I could. Nothing better than snuggling down in your bed for an hour in the middle of the afternoon. Even better when my husband is with me. The bed warms up faster.

So here I find myself in a conundrum. As a stay at home mother of two, I have the luxury of being able to, on occasion, have an afternoon nap. Granted since the arrival of my son, the days that an opportunity presents itself are few and far between, but still, I can nap more often than most of my friends who work all day. And I do. My couch is my biggest vice. My body sugar dips in the afternoon and so in order to stay out of the kitchen where I'd just snack for an hour, I snuggle up on the couch with the pink and blue afghan that my mother made me and sleep until I hear the rustle of children through the baby monitor. My oldest can get up on her own now and will often come upstairs and wake me up. But I digress. My conundrum is the guilt I feel when I nap. I feel guilty that I'm not washing dishes or cleaning bathrooms or folding laundry. I feel guilty that my husband is out working all day (even though he invariably falls asleep on the couch at 8:30pm every night). I feel guilty that I'm stealing away, pampering myself, when my friends who HAVE to work don't get the chance to nap. So then the nap feels wrong. Guilt is a heavy feeling.

But I was talking to another friend last night about my "secret naps" and now I'm feeling less guilty. Why is it that I should feel guilty about something as insignificant as napping when hey, this is MY life. I only get one shot at it, so why shouldn't I do whatever I feel like doing in the afternoon when an hour presents itself where I don't have to jump to attention to attend to the needs of my two small children? I work hard the rest of the day. I'm up early, making food, entertaining children, keeping the house running. What's wrong with treating myself when I can? And with a nap! There's no calories in a nap. In fact, sleep can make you healthier....a well rested mother is a happier mother.

So from here forward, I promise to nap when I can. It's my life, my body. I'll do what I feel like. But maybe I just won't tell everyone about it.