I don't do afternoons

My name is Katie and I'm a nap-aholic. Yes, I just had to get that off my chest.  I feel ashamed.  I feel embarrassed.  I feel like a toddler in the afternoon.  Mostly, I just feel tired.

 

I could blame it on lots of things.  Nine years ago when I lived in Spain during which naps were a regular part of my schedule (a place where napping is normal.)  My newborn baby who wakes me up multiple times a night.  Breastfeeding.  My husband who keeps me up watching videos and previews during our bonding time.  My 5 year old that I have to get ready in the morning.  But even if all those things were magically resolved, when 2:30 in the afternoon came around, I would still feel tired. 

 

I guess that it’s just the way that I am chemically put together.  When the afternoon hits, even if I had 8 hours of consecutive sleep (which hasn’t happened for quite some time), I will feel tired and have a hard time doing anything that takes any amount of concentration.  My voice goes lower, I am more serious, and my creativity goes out the window.  I am not even remember the conversation I was having with you.  Have you ever been around someone who is not a morning person in the early hours?  Is it fun to be around them?  That’s how it is with me in the afternoon.  I don’t do afternoons.    

 

I was just born in the wrong continent.  I guess that if I lived in Southern Spain it would even be an issue.  But here I am, and now my older children don’t need naps but I still do.   It was a lot easier when they had their three hour naps every afternoon.  I would have my three hour nap too.  But now they get their afternoon movies or quiet time in their rooms while I secretly nap. 

 

Does that make me a closet sleeper?  That I like to nap alone?  Yes, it’s true; I’m not much of a social sleeper- and I prefer my bed (not the closet) best of all. 

 

Now there are some times I really have to beef up my self will to pull me through.  Vacations.  Disneyland trips.  Pretty much anything that happens in the afternoon.  I can make it through without a nap, but I will have a headache and feel an uncontrollable urge to sleep.  Yes, I feel physically ill without my afternoon nap.  Then when 5:30 hits something magical happens.  I no longer feel ill and I no longer feel tired.  I am fine and myself again.  But I can’t get those three hours, from 2:30 to 5:30 back. 

 

So I am here on my blog to admit my problem.  Why?  Because I am now in my thirties and think that after more than thirty years I should figure myself out.  I also know that it’s been this much time and this problem will not go away.  I am now able to go back to my life and realize why at certain events I felt the way I did.  Why did I ALWAYS (without fail) fall asleep during my child development class, even though I thought that it was interesting?  (I signed up for an afternoon class.)  Why was I able to sleep in more than 30 buildings on BYU campus?  (I am really good at falling asleep in the afternoon, even in weird places.)  Why was I groggy during some of our Sunday family dinners growing up?  (I probably didn’t get my nap that day- Sundays are the day I most feel the urge.) 

 

So this is what I like to do.  I give in.  I take a nap.  Really, even 2 minutes of dreamland will solve this problem.  I will not get my afternoon headache and I might actually be able to use my mind.  But you would be amazed how hard it is to have two minutes to myself, without screaming children and worrying that someone is going to climb up and find the kitchen knives or decide to give themselves a haircut with the paper scissors that someone left out.  That is perhaps why TV was invented and why TV is also very addictive (which makes it a very good babysitter for older children during speed naps for mommy.) 

 

So next time you happen to be with me in the afternoon sometime between 2:30 and 5pm, you may notice that I am tired.  So if I happen to leave for a long five minutes, it may be because I just taking a power nap.  Two minutes and I will be fine again for hours.