House Arrest
Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Scout's nap schedule keeps me confined to the house some days, which can be a little frustrating. Depending on what time she gets up, she has been taking her nap from about 1-3 PM. Yesterday, it was actually an hour later than that. We live about 30-40 minutes from every place worth going to so running errands in "town" is never just a quick trip. Sure, we have a couple of mom 'n pop burger joints, a coffee shop, and a small grocery store where everything is overpriced, but one can only frequent those places so many times before it gets old.

If I go into town sometime in the the morning before Scout's nap, she almost always falls asleep during the drive home which ensures that she will NOT take her regularly scheduled nap once we get home. Depending on how urgent my errands are, I usually opt to stay home (or at least close to home) until after Scout's nap because I am too selfish to give up that 1.5 - 2 hours of alone time I get when she's sleeping. I normally use that time to clean up the kitchen, fold laundry, or just relax and eat lunch while wasting time on the computer. When I don't get that time, it seems like the rest of the evening is much more stressful. Scout is crankier because she only slept for 30 minutes in the car, so she clings to me and I can hardly get dinner fixed.

So, we end up missing out on some fun things as a result. I know there are some mommy groups and play dates "in town" that usually take place around 10 AM. There is also story time at the library and other activities around the community that I'm sure Scout would enjoy. The parks and playgrounds are nicer and more toddler-friendly than the one trashy graffiti and broken-glass laden one we have here in my podunk town.

We usually spend our mornings around the house, playing and trying to get a few chores done. We go out in the yard and take walks around the neighborhood a lot. Every couple of weeks or so, we meet up with a friend of mine and her 2 year old son to play, which is nice but I'd like to have Scout around other kids more often than that. I think we both get pretty bored sometimes. When I wait until after her nap to drive into town, there is not much time left to do anything. By the time we get there and go into one store, or play for 20 minutes at the park it's time to go home so I can make dinner.

While writing all of this, I realized that I'm the one who needs to be proactive and do something to change this situation instead of whining and belly-aching about it. I should make an effort to get Scout involved in more activities even if it means that I'll have to miss out on some mommy-time some days. Or maybe I could try to organize a play group here in Podunkville.

And then, before I got this post published.....

I spoke with previously mentioned friend on the phone who said that she, her MIL, and a couple other mommies are all going to start meeting up at her gymnastics studio here in my podunk town on Mondays, Wednesdays, and possibly Fridays at 10 AM to do some workout videos while the kids run around and play together. Score.

Which only proves to me that whining does work.

Labels: general complaining, outings, playing

posted by Unkempt Mommy @ 8:35 AM,

4 Comments:

At Tue Sep 16, 11:25:00 AM CDT, Annika said...: Whoa. Are you me? Sam's nap is also unpredictable, and if he sleeps in the car for even five minutes that is IT for the day. So we stay home a lot. Sigh.
At Wed Sep 17, 12:12:00 PM CDT, DarcyLaine said...: Maybe you should move out of your podunk town? :)
At Wed Sep 17, 07:07:00 PM CDT, heidi said...: i am SO with you on this. i live in another podunk town with awful playgrounds and a kmart. that's pretty much it. tristan also naps poorly in the car and won't take his nice long 2 hour nap if he does nap in the car. so....i've started a weekly coffee morning at my house with other moms from my church and that has been something great to look forward to. other than that, we do the same sort of walking around neighborhoods thing that you do. bummer we don't live in the same podunk town ;)
At Thu Sep 18, 12:49:00 AM CDT, Unkempt Mommy said...: Good to know I'm not the only one. Yes - we all need to move like a block away from each other so our little stinkers can play together and really wear themselves out before their naps!