A Promise Is a Promise

Like batteries found in any one of Todder J's toys, my energy reserves have been running down a bit every day by the little munchkin.  Two months shy of his second birthday, TJ dropped his one and only nap of the day.  Yes, I've tried EVERYTHING.  With his favorite lullabyes playing, I've even regressed to rocking him until he falls asleep, plus another 10 minutes, but to no avail.  The minute I start to inch my butt off the glider, TJ whips out of sleep and decries, "ONE MORE SONG!", and clutches me with his death grip.

Every day, for over two months, I repeated this ritual, refusing to accept my fate of no-nap days.  "I'm not losing this one easily.  Even if it kills me, I'm gonna keep putting him down. And one day, he is gonna cave in and accept his fate of one-nap days."  Well, with the holidays in full swing, having to coordinate everything and everybody's calendar, on top of my usual toddler routine, my resolve started waning, white flags waving in my mind.

"TJ," I sighed, one day while feeding him lunch, "Every day, we do the same thing.  We eat our lunch, and then it's nap time, right?"

"Go Night-night!" TJ interjects.

"Yes, it's time to go to sleep.  Now TJ, for once, can you pleeeaaasse go to sleep?"  I begged.  I really wasn't expecting TJ to understand what I was saying and respond.  I was just talking out loud and kind of comforting myself through self-talk.  "You know, if you take a nap, we can do ANYTHING you want.  What do you want to do?" 

Up to this point, I had tried withholding his favorite snacks, toys, and DVDs on a high shelf.  I even lined them up, like hot merchandise, hoping I'd break his will with apple bars, construction vehicles, and Thomas Trains episodes.  But, No siree Bob.  TJ would even happily report, when I went in to fetch him after no naps, "No snacks, no trucks, no tv!"  (silent screams inside me, while I calmly take him out, as to appear unaffected)

"Train.  I want to go on a train," TJ flatly stated.

"What? Trains?  You want to go on a train?"  Fine, I thought.  We live a skip, hop, and jump from the Mountain View Cal Train Station, so I quickly said, "Sure, why not?"  And quickly cleaned him up, before we missed our nap window.

Well, lo and behold.  Half an hour later, I emerge from his bedroom, slowly doing the Scooby & Shaggy creep as I close the door.  TJ is sleeping!  I jumped around and quietly did my victory dance and fell back on my bed.  I was so excited, I couldn't even take the nap I had waited months for.  Quickly, I dashed into the shower, so I could take a long hot shower and wash my hair.  Aaaaaahhhhh.. finally a break.

Refreshed and relaxed, I checked a few emails and even drank a glass of water.  "MMMOOMMEEEEE!! Come get MMEEEEE!" Josh called.  Nap time was over. 

I happily pranced over and led him to the Shelf for Nap Champions.  "Look, TJ!  You can have ANY reward you want!  What'll it be?"  I lightly touched each snack, truck, and DVD, like Vanna on Wheels of Fortune.

"No, I don't want that.  I want to go on a train!"  Uh-Oh.  Really?  Did he really remember he said that?  Did he really take a nap because he wanted to go on a train?  I can't believe that. 

"TJ, don't you want to eat your snacks or watch tv?  Don't you miss your tv?  It's been months!"  I gave him his snacks and put on the tv, thinking, "Eh, he'll forget all about the train stuff."  How wrong I was.

Next thing I knew, I was rushing to strap TJ in the car, so we can get the train ride over with.  I didn't want to break my promise.  So, as we boarded the train (it was just pulling in as we walked towards the tracks), I thought, “Oh, good.  We made it.   We'll just get off at the next train station and hop back on the other train coming back.  We'll be back in no time.  And I can get dinner ready. After all, I wanted to avoid rush hour!”

Well, little did I know. "Express trains" start before 5 o'clock rush hour.  It turns out Express Trains are trains that skip several stops, in order to get passengers North and South of the line as quickly as possible.  Out of luck, TJ and I happened to get off on one of these stops that get passed by.  I didn't grab a heavy coat as I flew out the door, figuring it would be a quick ride and back.

So, here I was freezing to death, checking out the train schedule, when this dawns on me.  Oh, my gosh.  What are we going to do for 40 minutes!  I can't believe this is happening!  We are at the Sunnyvale Train Station, less than a few minutes by car to where we got on.  And we are stuck here.  Good thing I had TJ dressed up warmly.  Out of routine, put all his layers on before we got in the car.  But, I had no diaper bag and no snacks.  Nothing.  Please, don't poop, TJ, I prayed.

As I started worrying about what to do with a two year old at a train station in mid-60 degree weather,  I heard TJ laughing and running through leaves that had fallen from the big clusters of trees around the tracks.  "Leaves, Mommy.  Look I'm stepping on them!"  Crunch, crunch, crunch.  Yes!  A game!

"Yeah, TJ!  Let'ts try to step on all the leaves!"  As he ran around, stomping the grounds, I tried to think of another game to kill time and keep us both warm.  By the time our train screeched to a stop and boarded our return home, we had played, Collect the Leaves, Find the Biggest Leaves, Find the Smallest Leaf, Try to Catch Mommy, Try to Catch Josh, and Run around the Tree Trunks as Fast as You Can.

Gosh, I must’ve looked CRAZY to all the working, sane people who were lined up, waiting for the train.  I wished I could tell them all, “I was actually a working professional for many years.  I went to college, had a career and wore nice clothes and shoes just like you.  I did not get fired, and I actually chose, out of my own free will, to be a stay-at-home mom.” 

That night, when I greeted hubby walking through the door, I couldn’t wait to tell him all about it.  I wanted some empathy and TLC.  Instead, hubby laughed and laughed.  And gave TJ a high five.  “Alright, buddy! You got Mommy to go on a train with you?! Good job!”

Although I definitely got way more than I bargained for when I made the deal with TJ for a nap, I did get a few things out of it.  For starter, a good night’s sleep from all the exercise.  Two, some great pictures.  Three, I learned two year olds can and will negotiate.  And finally, a promise is a promise.  Even if it means going on a train ride that I'll never forget, in more ways than one.

Cross-posted at Just Peachy Baby Blog where Bonnie writes about her peachy life with baby.