We had a surprise snow day this week.  It was unexpected and so was the inch of snow.  Nonetheless, it was a day off from work.  The best part was that we knew the night before.  Harrison was excited to stay up late.  I tried my best to keep Sydney up until 11:00 pm.  But she was exhausted and the time change was finally affecting her. 

I should have gone to bed too, but I decided to stay awake and work on a few projects. The quiet house was calming and comforting.  Sydney woke up at 5:00 am.  So, thank God for the extra two hours.  We were having a great morning.  But by 11:00 I was exhausted.  My eyes were droopy and heavy.  I just needed sleep.

I am afraid of taking a nap if Sydney isn’t asleep.  On the snow day I needed a nap so bad that it hurt. I know we have all bribed our children.  I told Sydney if she took a nap, I would give her an Amazon gift card.   She said,”No thanks.” Then I began to kick myself for not getting an alarm system for the doors. That way I would know if she was trying to make a run for it.

Next, I asked if she wanted to take a nap in the Foxy Tent with me. Again the answer was no. So this is when my thinking outside of the box started working.  I stumbled downstairs to get jingle bells ornaments from the Christmas decorations.  I decided to put jingle bells on  the front door, door to the garage and the door to the deck. Surely I would hear the jingle bells ringing if she tried to escape.

Being the helicopter mom that I am I decided to take the jingle bells a step further. Since Syd was in her Egyptian Princess costume, I decided that she needed some jingle bell bracelets and ankle bracelets.  She loved it!  Then I felt bad because it was like she had tethers on her legs.

 I just needed sleep and I was desperate.  Sydney and I settled in my room. She had everything she needed. I didn’t mind if she jingled around, that meant she was still in my room. Now it wasn’t the best nap but it was better than nothing.

I wasn’t in a deep sleep. I could hear jingle bells ringing in March. If I said Sydney you ok?  She replied, “yes”.  A few months ago she would have answered, “Sydney, you okay?’ My nap lasted probably thirty minutes.  I couldn’t help but laugh as she danced around the house in her Egyptian princess costume single Christmas carols.

This is how we do it!