The Two Types of Moms

     Mothers can be categorized in so many ways...stay at home moms, working moms, first time moms, experienced moms, mothers of boys, mothers of girls, mothers of singles, mothers of multiples, older moms, younger moms, etc. etc.  Shortly after I joined the ranks myself, I started grouping all moms into one of  two categories: moms of children who sleep alot, and moms of children that don't.  I fall into the latter category.  Times three.
    While my friends' newborns snoozed (for multiple hours, multiple times a day), mine was wide eyed and wide awake All. Day. Long.  Sure, she'd pass out a few times a day while nursing for about 15 minutes, but that was it (and  I'm not entirely certain that dozing while eating  qualifies as a nap anyhow).  By the time she turned 1, those brief rest periods were consolidated into one 30-45 minute power nap that she gave up around the time we brought her little brother home from the hospital, a month shy of her second birthday. While her baby brother nursed and dozed,  I'd lay down with her, close my eyes for a few minutes...and wake up with a new hairdo. It was during this time period that I learned how to nurse standing up with the baby in a sling while drinking coffee . The only way to stay awake was to stay upright and caffeinated. 
     Although baby boy visited daylight hour dreamland slightly more than his predecessor, it wasn't by much   ( he took TWO 30-45 minute power naps which he gave up before he was out of diapers). By then, I was pregnant with baby number three. While some of my friends were trying to wean their kids off naps before starting Kindergarten, I had two kids under the age of five and the only person in the house whose eyelids drooped mid-afternoon was me.
     Convinced that our new little guy would break the nap rejection cycle,  I read all the best selling infant sleep books while playing the white noise machine, practicing my swaddling technique, and implementing a soothing, predictable nap routine. I also interrogated, er, interviewed all of my girlfriends that raised good nappers and took copious notes. After all that, not only did this kid refuse to nap but  he refused to sleep at all anytime, anywhere other than in my arms or in my bed.  So I did what any other exhausted mother would do...put side rails up on our bed, and started using the crib as a giant hamper. Showering at night and sleeping in my clothes to allow for some extra shut-eye in the morning. Refusing to teach the kids how to tell time so I could put them to bed at 6:30 p.m. If you read the last few sentences and find yourself shaking your head in confusion, then you my friend are one of THEM.  If you're nodding and smiling in understanding, then you dear reader are one of US.