basically, these are the two camps in the parenting style wars. ok ok, its not a war. but there is a choice about how to raise a little baby and though i haven't bothered to choose sides, am not interested in any philosophical battle about parenting, the lack of ms.zo's napping forces the issue. do we follow the book and seek the holy grail of laying zo down awake in her crib, saying goodnight and shutting the door? do we continue to seek this goal if she cries and i cry and spend all day trying to make the nap happen? i change my plan every day. this morning i decided, even wrote down, that i was going to try and get zoe to nap at 9 and at 2, and if n9 didn't work then at 12, and i will let her lay in her crib for an hour if she is not crying (sometimes she plays and hangs out awake) and if she cries ill go in and comfort and leave and repeat for a while, up to a half hour unless the crying is big (there are so many gradients of crying). so today the 9:00 nap didnt work. so i tied zoe on in a hip carry and we walked to the store for onions to make soup. she was quite and happily blissed out in her sleepy stare at everything open wide eyed way, and by the time we got back and the potatoes were chopped she had fallen asleep so sweetly against my shoulder. i didnt want to go lay her down in her crib, risk waking her and miss out on the cuddles. tim had a similar experience yesterday. thing is, she will sleep fine if cuddled in a sling or in bed - who wouldn't? and i would rather not struggle with her about napping. so what is the problem? i worry that im setting us up for difficult toddler years where naps are needed but not taken. humph. but this is what we decided just now: (problem is we keep changing our minds, well, especially me) she is so sweet and cuddly and small and wont be for long and its wonderful when she naps on your shoulder or chest or belly to belly snuggling on the bed. we will deal with any problems later, and while clockwork naps would be nice, and saying "goodnight zoe" and shutting the door would save time, oh well. whatev. parenting is the hardest and best thing ever. we'll deal.
