Miss A's Special Adventure

Right around a year and a half old, Miss A thought she was too big for naps.  I had a weird work schedule where I would pick her up from day care a little after 12, so she would fall asleep in the car, and then think her nap was done.  Not good for me considering I was pregnant with Little J, and wanted a little time to relax or get things done in the afternoon.  

As Miss A has gotten older, we've given up on the idea of an actual nap in favor of rest time.  Even if she never falls asleep, she's still much happier if she has some down time in the afternoon.  When June came and I got to be home with the girls all day, rest time was extra important for me to have a little break, and get some things done around the house.  But Miss A didn't want to miss out on whatever I was doing, so she was constantly calling for me, or coming out of her room, "to go to the bathroom."

Then came a day when Miss A had to go to the bathroom 8 times during her rest.  I was so frustrated.  Then I remembered a friend mentioning that she was trying a token reward system for her daughter at bedtime.  I decided to try our own token system the next day.  Each day at the start of rest time I gave Miss A 3 tokens (poker chips), and told her every time she got out of bed or called me in to her room, I would get to take a token.  But she would get to keep the rest, and when she had 10 tokens she could go shopping and buy a Princess Sofia doll she had been asking about.  

The first week was amazing.  Miss A slept 3 out of 4 days.  I was happy, she was happy and at the end of the week she got her Sofia doll. This was right before E and I left for Germany.  So we gave the token system a little rest, and started it up again when we got back.  This time around Miss A only got 1 token to start each rest time, but the reward was bigger too.  When she got 10 tokens, we would have someone watch Little J, and Miss A would get a special big girl adventure.

Miss A and I riding the bus.

Checking out the tallest building in Mpls.

Sharing a gelato treat with Daddy.

The special adventure was to take the bus to visit Daddy at work.  Miss A had been asking for months when she would get to ride a bus, so this seemed like a perfect adventure.  We planned our visit for Thursday so we could visit Daddy's office, go to lunch with him and visit the farmer's market.  Miss A loved her special adventure!  And it was fun for E and I to have a little time with just our big girl.  

For now, we're giving the tokens a rest.  Miss A started losing interest in them before she got to her special adventure, and if I hadn't had a babysitter set up for Little J, she probably would have had to wait longer to get her special adventure.  But the tokens did help for most of the summer, and I will probably try them again if she gets in bad habits once school starts and I'm back to work.