Farewell to Nap Time!!

Okay all of you crafty bloggers with your little daily doses of cheer and advice...I have succumbed to the pressure and I thought I would try my hand at Works for ME Wednesday...but here is why I have not done it before...What works for me always changes, some days what works for me one day does not work the next day...so never the less, this is what has worked for me this week:

Farewell to Nap time.....

For a couple of months now I have been avoiding the inevitable loss of nap time for my 3 yr. old, Ben. I felt in a strange sense that getting rid of the nap was just a cruel and unusual punishment for me...because I was losing my time to get things done during the day for two hours in the afternoon. After his persistence the past couple of months with taking 2 hours to go to bed at nap time and then another 2 hours to get to sleep at night, I have given in...and found that enduring some constructive time awake and quiet in the afternoon leaves me much less exhausted come 7:30 to 8:00 at night when Ben will compliantly go straight to sleep after his bath. So this is what I do,

I give him 3 options:

Option #1 Nap time until the timer goes off (he never chooses this one, but I can use it if he does not comply to the others)

Option #2 Playing in our playroom quietly with no T.V. either with his toys or reading books or coloring until the timer goes off. You could do this as room time if your child has activities in his or her room.

Option #3 Playing on his computer which is an old laptop of ours that we put a couple of age appropriate games for him on. This is something that really keeps his focus, that he can do independently.

On all three of these options, the timer is set for 45 minutes to an hour. He has done a decent job this week. This at least gives me some sanity time, I still do have to check on him, but he is not necessarily wild and tearing down the house. Here are a couple of computer games that you might want to try for your preschool age child...I was shocked at how quickly Ben could pick this up, so I encourage you to try it out....

Hooked on Phonics, Preschool, Pre-reading, Ages 3-5 I think it is the 2006 edition( You can find it on E-bay for $9.99 and it also includes other materials that are not just for the computer. It works on Letter identification and Phonics, and your child can do it independently once they figure out how to work the mouse or keypad on the computer.) I got ours at an educational store..before I looked it up on e-bay, but it was $25.00 there.

Disney Learning Preschool

This has 3 cds with it. Some are a little more advanced than others, but one of the cds is called Stanley Wild for Sharks, and it is one that a 3 yr. old can do independently...this one is my favorite! Ben loves it and there are so many elements to this game, it keeps him occupied. The cd's focus on Phonics, Spelling, Early math, Shapes and Colors, and Music. The other two games are Micky Mouse Preschool and Winnie the Pooh Preschool. I don't know how much this one costs because my sister-in-law gave it to Ben for his birthday..but I am sure it is well worth it and probably not more that 20-25 dollars. Definitely try e-bay!

I guess that is what works for me!! Good luck!

For more great tips, check out Shannon's Rocks in My Dryer !! Great stuff!http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/