No Mama, You DON’T Need to be Productive During Naptime

Fellow moms, let’s take a moment to talk about unrealistic expectations even for the little things like naptime. If this pandemic world has taught me anything, it’s that we as a society put too many undue burdens and expectations on moms. The bad news is we often do it to ourselves as well. Quite frankly, it’s killing our mental game. Maybe I’m speaking just for myself here (however I have a feeling many moms feel the same), but we need to cut ourselves a break. 

RELATED READING :: Naptime is for me, and I can’t survive without it

When my kid was a baby, I always felt like I had to do something useful during his nap time. I would kill myself to get laundry done, or a meal prepped, or the house vacuumed, but really what I wanted was a nap. And yes, in the early days of newborn life, everyone tells you to sleep when the baby sleeps, but again those societal and personal pressures to be a perfect housewife and mom are real. Honestly, in this era of pandemic life and constant mental drain, I’m over the perfect mom persona. I’m just so over it. So, even though my child no longer naps, I offer all you moms:

10 things to NOT worry about doing while your child naps or has quiet time

1. Don’t do the laundry
2. Don’t pick up the kid toys. That can become an activity to do with your child when they are awake.
3. Don’t mop the floor. 
4. Don’t make meals from scratch. If you must do a meal, stick something in the crockpot and forget about it.
5. Don’t vacuum 
6. Don’t do the dishes
7. Don’t clean out the refrigerator 
8. Don’t organize a room
9. Don’t do yard work
10. Don’t try to live up to “Suzy homemaker” over there on Facebook land. She’s not perfect either.

Now here are 10 things you should do for yourself during naptime:

1. Watch a movie
2. Drink a glass of wine, or a beer. 
3. Paint your nails
4. Take a shower. A nice long one.
5. Or take a bubble bath. Add #2 on this list with this one and you will feel ah-mazing.
6. Binge a few episodes of a good show. Bridgerton anyone? Outlander?? 
7. Curl your hair. Or don’t. Whatever makes you happy.
8. Scroll away the hour on TikTok. There’s some funny stuff there.
9. TAKE A NAP
10. Pretend you’re in Mean Girls and make a personal Burn book for all the people/things that have sucked this year. Trust me, it can be really freeing to live in anger for a little bit and do something creative with it. 

Enjoy naptime if you are lucky enough to have it!

Photo Credit :: Lynn Walker Photography