the disappearing nap

{Please ignore that crazy blue bed and blanket that doesn't match anything. She had her mind made up for months about that bed - it's her favorite color. Jimmy and I figured she'd be more likely to transition easily from her crib to a bed if she chose the bed. We were right!}

I knew it would happen eventually. Malayna hasn't been taking a daily nap for a while now. She still goes to her room to "rest", but as you can see from the picture above, not much resting is taking place. I can hear her {through the monitor} running around and talking {and talking, and talking}. As much as I love to hear her making up stories and being mommy to her babies, sometimes I just want her to be quiet. I find it very difficult to concentrate on anything while she's chatting away.

I'm not sure what I'll do when she's not napping at all anymore. I guess I'll just have to make myself work while she rests, but I do work best with her out of the house {or at least sleeping quietly!}. I don't want to send her to preschool yet for a variety of reasons. Once she's in kindergarden I'm sure I'll miss these days {even though I'm complaining about them right now}. In the big scheme of things she'll be home with me for such a small part of her life that I want to enjoy it.

Having said all that, though, my mom does come over two days a week to babysit. She takes Malayna out so I can have the house all to myself. They'll go to the park, the mall, or to mom-mom and pop-pop's house to play. I get so much work done when the house is quiet. I can go to my studio and not worry about squeezing all the things I want to do into two hours. I've learned that, in order to be productive and creative, I need to know that I'll have a big block of time all to myself. With no interruptions. It's getting a little harder to swing that these days.

For those of you who work from home and have children, how do you do it? What works for you?