The Illusion of Control

Ezra is at an age where he rarely naps. He has one hour of "quiet time" in his room each day... although truth be told, I think it should more accurately be called, "one hour of sanity time for mommy."

Asher, understanding that Ezra almost never sleeps, but rather, sits in his bed and plays with cars, looks at books, and tries to be still and quiet (which is quite difficult for an almost 5 year old) wants in on this "no sleep" action. So, every day, when I lay Asher down for rest, he says, "I'm not going to sleep today, okay?" I used to try to tell him that he needed to at least try to rest, then tears would ensue as he explained to me in 2 year old dialect that he was not "sweepy" and he just wanted to "tay up." I quickly learned, however, that the only response I need to give to Asher when he wants to stay up is, "okay, you don't need to sleep."

The illusion of control is a funny thing... just about 98.7% of the time, when Asher is not "sweepy" and wants to "tay up" he ends up falling asleep. I suppose Asher seems to think that since he has the "choice" of whether he needs to sleep or stay up, he "chooses" to sleep.