Nap Time

Kindergarten was a funny time.

It was only a half-day in school, and yet there was a designated nap time, where all the kids in the class were told to lie down on mats, and the teacher would turn out the lights. I don't remember how long we'd be made to stay quiet but my guess would be 15 to 20 minutes.

Maybe, even half an hour.

I could never sleep during nap time, though I learned how to stay quiet and lie still. I was four, and had a pretty active life, already. I was used to running around with my friends, in the neighbourhood, when our moms would kick us out of the house and tell us to be back for lunch, only to kick us out again afterwards and not want to see us again until dinner.

We roamed the neighbourhood and sometimes, beyond.

I didn't appreciate a nap until after I became a dad. Of course, DW did the heavy lifting—getting up in the middle of the night for the baby's feedings and spending all day with our wee ones—but I was a light sleeper and would often stir when she woke to feed our daughters.

At work, I would get tired around lunchtime. I would schedule my break so that many of my co-workers would be done their lunch, and I could snooze on a sofa in one of the break rooms. I would also sometimes nap at my desk, setting a 20-minute timer, reclining my chair, and propping my feet up on my desk.

One time, I awoke from a nap and found an envelope with my pay stub resting on my chest. Apparently, my manager had come to deliver it and didn't want to disturb me, but also wanted to let me know he had been by while I was sleeping.

He had kids. He totally got it.

There was a long period, after my kids got older, where I didn't feel that I needed naps. Even when I found myself staying up late and getting up early, the next morning. I could put in a full day at work without the need for a mid-day shut-eye.

But when I started working, full-time, from home, I found I needed naps again. I suspect that, while working at home, I would make myself a proper breakfast each morning and would prepare a decent lunch, so that by mid-afternoon my meals would make me sleepy.

I'd set a 30-minute timer and have a good nap, and then get right back to work.

I'm no longer employed but I still spend my weekdays at my desk, writing my murder mystery. And, mid-afternoon, I still have naps.

I was shuffling through photos, the other day, looking for a random photo to post on my Bluesky account, when I came across a picture from 2003, when Kid 2 was a few days old. It shows our old sofa, our old kitchen floor, and a much younger me.

And, of course, Kid 2 and I are napping.

We still have those throw cushions, though they're now on a different sofa in a different room. I still use them, each day, to rest my head when I nap.

So maybe I didn't nap in kindergarten but I'm making up for it now, and then some. (Maybe, nap time was more for our teacher than for us?)

Happy Thursday!