"SHHHHHH!!!! OR YOU'LL WAKE THE BABY!!!"

(Please vote for me!!!)

(And PLEASE learn about Scarlet and help me help the children of Primary Children's Hospital!)

the three of them about the age that Lilly and Mahone gave up naps.

Scarlet- about 7 months here.

Lilly- Age 3

Mahone, Age 2.

Lilly and Mahone both stopped having naps the summer before last. Lilly was 3 1/2 and Mahone was 2. Lilly would have continued them, but Mahone wouldn't stand for one, and Lilly declared it "unfair" to make her nap without him. Scarlet, being only 5-6 months or so continued to have them.

Now-a-days, she's still sleeping at mid day. The exact times vary, but generally her nap lasts from around 12:00pm to 4:00 pm.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Scarlet has her nap at my mother's house while Lilly and Mahone attend a preschool taught by my mom. She LOVES this, and loves her bed there, which, she thinks, is just for her. It makes her feel special. I love these days too because 1. I get to nap, blog or otherwise goof off online for 3 whole hours while my children are all occupied. 2. There is no one for me to have to continually "SHUSH!" while she sleeps!

*****

The other day, Lilly and Mahone were watching their regular afternoon cartoons. I was messing around on Blog Frog, and my son dropped a toy. It made a noise, but not a really loud one. As my Scarlet was napping, and this is well known in our house as quiet time, I went to whisper a sharp and probably mean sounding "SHHHHH!" - but my son beat me to it. Without looking up, he yanked up his hot wheels car and said quickly "SHHH!"

So I had to stop and think. And laugh, of course.

"Shhh" is a reflex in our house. Just like "I love you", or "knock it off", or "I don't THINK so" or "don't hit your sister".

It doesn't really matter where we are. It can be church, the store, the park, my back yard, the car- whenever one of my children raises their voice, I find myself whispering "shhh." (Not always so harsh as it is during Scarlet's nap.) Usually, my kids don't even really notice that I say it. Still, I have to remind myself that they're kids, and shouldn't always have to be quiet.

As for now, though, until I have a house full of kids who DON'T need naps, I'm fine with "SHHHH!" being sort of an extra appendage. It's like a proverbial arm i can use to reach out and smack my noisy kid upside the head without causing either physical, or emotional damage- well, at least that one is minimal.