Today had all of the potential makings of a terrible day. Last night, Dylan went to bed about three hours later than he usually does. This morning, he got up a little before his regular wake up time. Since he normally gets about twelve hours of sleep each night and does not nap most days, I was concerned to say the least.
When Dylan is overtired, he does not act like himself. I am sure that most toddlers act at least slightly out of sorts when they are overtired. As we ate breakfast, I wondered to myself when the difficulties would begin and how we would get through the day. I did not have to wait long for things to start going awry.
For some reason, I can not remember exactly what went on this morning, except that Dylan was feeling out of sorts and not acting like himself. I do remember trying to reassure him that although I was not pleased with his behavior, I understood that it was not his fault. I tried my best to explain to him that he was probably feeling yucky because he had not gotten enough rest. At any rate, we made it through the morning and after my husband left for work I decided that a change of scenery might do us all a bit of good. I packed up a quick picnic lunch and we went to the playground.
We had a great time at the playground, and Dylan even made a new friend. We ate our lunch there, and when I started to notice that Dylan was rubbing his eyes I decided that it was time for us to go. I wanted to make sure that Dylan fell asleep on the way home, so I drove all around town before heading home. When we got home, I scooped Dylan up and brought him into the bedroom. It had been a very long time since he had napped in bed, because he does not nap most days. As I tucked him in and kissed him on the cheek I breathed a huge sigh of relief. He was going to get at least some of the rest that he needed to replenish his spirit.
That nap lasted a full two hours, and it gave both of us a chance to recharge. As Dylan rested, I got some cleaning done and played with Blake. By the time that Dylan woke up, Blake was ready for a nap and I was able to focus on Dylan and play with him for a while before it was time to make dinner. Quiet time and bed time went smoothly, and happened on our usual schedule. As I look back on today, I am thankful that despite the fact that the ingredients for a bad day were all present we managed to have a very nice day indeed.