A Draining Week

Last week was draining, to say the least. There were so many things going on and so little time to do them between parties, playdates, preschool, and work. Also, the week was made especially difficult because of Grayson's decision to not take naps.

The week started with a great birthday party!! Our nephew, Paul, had his fourth birthday party on a pirate ship in Annapolis. Dominic and I took Grayson and our nephew, Brooks, down with us, and our other nephews, Tevyn and Trevor, came as well with Willie and Karena. I had hoped Grayson would sleep on the car ride down, but that didn't happen. He was too excited to have Brooks in the car with him, so he stayed awake the whole time. He was still good on the ship, but he didn't participate in any of the activities. Brooks, Tevyn, and Paul had a blast and it was so much fun to watch! I highly recommend this as an outing if your children are at all interested in pirates. The crew really kept the kids entertained and you get to sit back and watch. I had so much fun watching the kids I barely noticed the Annapolis harbor!! You can click here to see more pictures.

The rest of the week was a nightmare of a schedule thanks to the starting of preschool. Grayson did very well. Of course he didn't like me leaving him there, but overall he handled it well. Unfortunately, he got himself so worked up in the afternoon that he wouldn't take naps. This went on until Thursday!! I was so beaten down by the end of the week I really didn't know what I was going to do. Some people have said that he may be growing out of naps, but I don't think that is the case at all. Unfortunately, when he doesn't get some down time in the afternoon (even if it's just quiet time in his room for an hour), he gets wilder and wilder as the day progresses. This results in extreme temper tantrums, bad behavior, and non-stop energy. All a bad combination for a two-and-a-half year old. Luckily on Friday, we stayed home for the day and I was able to get him to sleep that afternoon.

Dominic was off both Saturday and Sunday this weekend which really helped. For the first time in ages, I actually "did nothing" on Sunday afternoon. I felt terribly guilty about it - I should have been making phone calls for work, cleaning, doing laundry, something - but I tried to allow myself to enjoy it. I watched a movie and enjoyed the peace and quiet. It was refreshing and a great way to get myself ready for the week. I'm now ready to tackle the week and make it a great success!! I even survived shoe shopping for Grayson yesterday at the outlets. We even walked away with a great pair of shoes. Ahh, success already.