Or…
Do what feels best.
Sharee Miller is the author of Princess Hair and Don’t Touch My Hair. She lives in Jersey City with her spouse, toddler son, and two cats, Pumpkin and Spice. Her comics celebrate Black joy and self-care. Welcome to CoJ, Sharee!
Jajaja welcome to my life as well! Loved it! Although I must say since my little love is sleep trained I am better rested and more productive during nap time. So if anyone needs: https://www.parental-love.com/shop/baby-sleep-training – the method is super fast and very gentle – these were my priorities picking it.
High five to Susan’s HWL sleep training! I loved her book and it helped be to stay sane. Also it was so easy to follow with her step-by-step form. Just brilliant!
HAHAHHAA I FEEL SO SEEN. Nap 1 is option 1, bc that stuff needs to get done. Nap 2 is almost always option 2. I love life with my ten month old but it is exhausting.
To admin/technical issue: The “comments” link is right under the first comic box AND under the second box. It is confusing because, it really changes how this comic reads: it looks like the first comic box is the whole post.
I can see some young mothers reading that first box as a complete post and navigating away without scrolling down further, with a big hit of that mother guilt most of us have, thinking they should be pumping in 7 minutes.
Just thought you might want to know. :)
Thank you!
This. Is. Real.
My little one is about to turn one year old and I still go between both of these when he naps.
So glad to see Sharee here!
Haha!! Validated. I was reading the first thing thinking… Wow, that girl is productive. Keeping it real over here hahah.
Haha, this is wonderful! I feel seen!
currently reading this while holding a sleeping 2.5 week old who hasn’t stopped cluster feeding today. ironically per the cat names, eating a pumpkin muffin over her head and picking crumbs off… and eating them
Haha! I can no longer eat snacks while breastfeeding, my little one instantly stops eating and looks at me curiously haha!
The last one was me for sure.
This is actually me, right now, debating what to do once my kiddo finally falls asleep. But will she nap for 20 mins or 2.5 hours is the real mystery!
So excited to see Sharee Miller featured here! Her book, Don’t Touch My Hair, is one of our favorites! Really sweet pictures and a great message. Highly recommend for folks with littles!
Definitely the 2nd one! We love Sharee Miller! My daughter did her 1st grade book report on “Don’t Touch My Hair”. And the first question she got when she was done her presentation was, “Can I touch your hair?”
Oh my goodness! As someone who works with preschoolers, I’m not surprised. How’d your daughter respond?
New mom to a four-week-old (already?!) baby here, and I’m spending the day in a pumping bra, giant undies and my bathrobe, lol.
Excited to see more of Sheree’s comics!! What a great addition!
Yes!! I would work so hard to get my baby boy to nap, be exhausted, and ready for some “me time” then just spend the whole nap looking at pictures of him haha
Yesss I feel like this! I claw my way to bedtime each day and then once he’s asleep for the night, I miss him and switch between staring at pictures of him and his video monitor for the next 2 hours.
My son is almost two and I still “sleep when the baby sleeps” during his weekend naps, haha. Sometimes sleep means napping and sometimes sleep means zoning out in front of Instagram!
My son is 4 and same! I love naps on the weekend!
DO THIS AS LONG AS YOU CAN WITH NO GUILT.
COMPLETELY AGREE with enjoying it because one day they drop nap time, and you have to drop nap time. It’s tragic
Haha, reading this as I watch my kiddo NOT nap. Totally nailed it.
Anyone else have preemptive nap-related anxiety? Around 10 AM, I start to think, “Okay…will he nap today or won’t he?! What’s Plan B if he won’t so I can also close my eyes/call the doctor/finish that client work/weed the garden/start dinner/gather my thoughts?”
Obviously dependent on age and baby, but if we go through a sleep regression or what have you and our 9 month old fights a nap we still do rest time for the hour! No matter what she’s in the crib for the hour at Naptime and can play or roll but we at least both get some down time. Usually by the end she will have fallen asleep.
I did the same as Jules with my three kids as they phased out of daily naps – they could nap or they could rest/play quietly in bed with books/stuffies. And now that they’re 11, 9, and 6 we STILL have an afternoon quiet time! On school days they come home, have a snack with me, and do 30 min of quiet in their rooms (we do the full hour on non-school days). We’ve realized it helps them wind down after a busy day of socializing and learning and being on extra-good behaviour, and then they’re ready to resume being together as a family or going to extra-curriculars.
As an introvert, I categorize it as one of my best parenting moves hands-down. The first kid adapted really well to quiet time in lieu of naps, which gave me the fortitude to persist when the second did not. We gradually worked up to an hour of quiet time over the course of months until he was comfortable with it, and it was 100% worth the effort it took for my mental health and it turns out, theirs too.
Best advice I ever received as a new mom: Don’t do anything during nap time that you CAN do when baby is awake. When baby is awake, I can babywear and empty the dishwaster or let her play on the floor while I chop veggies. However, when baby is awake I can’t lay on the couch and watch reality TV! Naps are always “me” time!
Yes, same!!! I’ve lived by this advice since I read it in the comment section here! I can cook and clean and tidy and even shower with him playing on the floor. But I can’t do my creative work or relax fully on the sofa. So those are the nap time musts!
Yes!!! For those with (mostly) contact naps: before baby I used to read one book at a time, but contact napping pushed me to switch to reading 3 or 4 simultaneously. I’d leave each book at reaching distance to my usual landing places and [chef’s kiss]. On the most recurring one I also had wireless headphones, in case I felt like listening to music, a podcast or watching any videos with sound on. And obviously, a bottle of water on all of them if I could remember/plan well enough
Only if your baby is willing to nap somewhere other than *you* of course. I remember being amazed at all the “free” time I had when my daughter finally napped at her crib at 10 months.
Omg that is me right now! All naps are on my body again after a brief time of crib naps! (baby is 7 months). But I watch my reality TV on my phone (silently or with headphones) while he naps! Win-win… for now.
I hope 10 months = crib naps for us too. :)
But man does a small part of me miss the contact naps now! We had to hold ours until 5 months for naps and we would take turns holding her and watching a movie on low with subtitles. It was such a cozy time.
What isn’t pictured is the hour(s) spent coaxing the baby into a nap. Oooooh man this brings me back.
This cartoon…yaaas. Pump? Laundry? Dishes? HA! It has taken me two kids and another on the way and being in my forties to finally figure this out—ANY time you can safely shut your eyes…dooo it!
YEESSSSSSS!!!!
At first I only thought it was the top cartoon, and I was thinking…My God. Ha! The two together are so a complete reality; sometimes everything inside of me clicks into action, other times I just manage to sit. Now my kids are older, I feel sad for all my failed expectations for myself when they were babes. Alas! Some lessons are learned a little late.
I feel this deep in my soul and all 3 of my kids started school yesterday. So obviously it’s been a while!!!
Welcome! And may steal those cat names. A fed baby is best, you can do this!
Anyone who can pump in 7 minutes (the cleanup alone feels like it takes15 min!) is my mom-hero. My youngest turns 5 today and I still remember that well! 😂
Hang in there, mamas, and have a lovely weekend.
I was wondering if someone was going to comment on the 7-minute pump haha. The only unrealistic part of the comic!
"I like how you’ll go shopping and text me, these jeans look good on us."
Five looks from an artist who is not afraid of color, thank you very much.
Last fall, Anton and I strolled over to the playground and found...
I like to describe this Puerto Rican drink as a tropical eggnog.
PREVIOUS ARTICLE
78 COMMENTS