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Alternatively titled, A Tale of Two Nap Schedules, but that’s not quite as catchy.
We are in an interesting phase with sleep right now with the girls. Hailey, 3 1/2 years old, has always loved sleep as much as her mama. She still goes to bed at 7pm and I get her out of bed at 8am in the morning. To those throwing your second cup of morning coffee at your computer screen, I get it and yes, I completely know how wonderfully lucky that is!
I often get asked how long she naps for, and that’s the “fun” part. It’s all over the place. We’ve gone a few days in a row without naps, which has resulted in meltdowns that prove to me that she isn’t quite ready to give them up altogether, but she definitely doesn’t need one every day. I love when she doesn’t nap because at 7pm she crashes hard and usually gets a great night of sleep. However, some days she needs a nap and when she does, she still naps well, usually about 2.5 hours, but then doesn’t fall asleep until closer to 9pm which leads to a less solid night’s sleep. Le sigh, the trials and tribulations of threenagers.
Then there is sweet baby K (2 days away from being 1, but my sappy heart will call her 11 months until 2:04pm on the May 16th). She’s having fun bouncing around between needing 1 or 2 naps a day. Ideally if she takes a 40 minute morning nap, she’ll be ready for a second nap (1.5 hours long) in the afternoon and still ready for bed at 7pm. However, she can hold off all morning, so often times she is crashing around 1pm for 2 hours or so, which leaves me wondering on those days if she’s getting enough overall sleep for her age?
For those that aren’t parents, do not fear. This also feels like a train A left the station at 6:28am going 72 mph math question from hell to me too. With only one obvious answer.
Chocolate.
Dark chocolate.
Yes, there is no obvious nap time solution so instead we have been bouncing through our days, one unpredictable hour at a time. I give motherhood an A+ for teaching me let go of my rigidly scheduled ways. Except for 7pm bedtimes. That one sticks.
Because of the chaos, I relish in the sacred overlapping nap times (when they happen). That’s when I get some time to get things done and tear through the house like a hurricane of productiveness, but only after I take 5 minutes to kick my feet up, take a deep breath and indulge in one of these.
Treat yo self.
These little dark chocolate clusters with Blue Diamond’s Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt almonds with dried cherries hit the spot. The three bites is essential because it is so much more satisfying than those one-bite Dove chocolates (you know the women in the commercials must be nibbling because I can pop one of those suckers in like it ain’t no thing), yet it keeps portion control in check.
Plus between using dark chocolate and almonds, it’s basically health food. Take that, green smoothie.
Print
3-Bite Cherry Almond Dark Chocolate Clusters
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 18 clusters 1x
Description
These rich, three-bite clusters are a perfect way to treat yourself without going overboard. The combination of dark chocolate with tart cherries and crunch of the almonds creates a satisfying combo that is sure to satisfy any sweet tooth!
Ingredients
- 16 ounces dark chocolate chips
- 1 Tbsp coconut oil
- 1 cup Blue Diamond Sea Salt Almonds
- 1 cup Blue Diamond Dark Chocolate Almonds
- 1 cup dried cherries
Instructions
- In a food processor, combine the Blue Diamond Sea Salt Almonds and the dried cherries. Pulse 4-5 times until roughly chopped.
- Meanwhile, in a large, microwavable glass bowl, combine the dark chocolate chips and the coconut oil. Microwave on high for 30 seconds, then take out a stir. Continue this until the chocolate is completely melted (about 4-5 cycles).
- Combine the melted chocolate with the almond and cherry mix, and the dark chocolate almonds. Mix well.
- Spoon mixture into 18 silicone baking cups (or use parchment paper).
- Place in fridge for 1-2 hours until solid, then store at room temperature or the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Women, weigh in! How do you treat yo self when you deserve a 5 minute breather?
This post in sponsored by Blue Diamond Almonds.
emma @ be mom strong says
ugh nap time.
yesterday I finally turned the doorknob around for the 2.5 yr old. the baby is the easy one (for now)
Jerrica says
Haha! We have our doorknobs turned too! Glad I’m not the only one 😀
Brynn says
the nap conversation was the main topic yesterday with my mom friends. I love your analogy – seriously hilarious throw back to math that was never my strong suit. When the wee one goes down I love to sit on the couch with a cup of coffee or tea for 15 minutes and relax. Decompressing, even for a few minutes, has been a big help in stress management. But I’m thinking one of these chocolates would pair nicely with my coffee!
Kim says
I had this exact conversation with a friend last night. My daughter, who is just a few months younger than Hailey has been skipping naps at daycare and she turns in to a tyrant at night and then crashes at 8pm. We’re doing a reward chart (aka bribe) to get her to nap and she is so more pleasant but then she’ll roll around until 8:30/45 to fall asleep and call us back to her bed multiple times. My son whose 18 months naps like a champ and sleeps at night good too (18mo). Transition phase SUCKS.
Maryea {happy healthy mama} says
These are definitely my kind of treat! It’s crazy how sleep needs vary from child to child. All I know is I’ll be a sad mama when my 3 year is ready to give up his naps!
Kathleen says
I can’t believe Kaitlyn can get through a day with only one nap! My almost two year old is just starting, every once in awhile, to be ok with one nap instead of two… He loves his sleep haha and I treat myself with tea and either reading a few chapters of a book or listening to one of my podcasts 🙂 Or a power nap. I love my sleep too!
Marnie @ SuperSmartMama says
My son i leaving the the threenager stage and turns four in two months. His afternoon naps don’t happen often, but when they do, he will nap for 1-2 hours. And kind of similarly to Hailey, when we do nap, it is harder for my son to go to bed at night., but he will stay in his room after lights out and quietly sing or talk to himself until he falls asleep.
When I need a five-minute breather, I’ll pull up my iPad and browse a magazine. Then my son will ask if he can use the iPad to watch his favorite show-of-the-moment.
Kerry says
These look delicious! I made something similar the other day but just dolloped them on a plate, using the tin would have been helpful! 🙂
Brittany @ Delights and Delectables says
I could go for these right now!! I’ll email you about next week girl!!
Paige C says
My four year old doesn’t take naps but I do make him “rest” for 30-45 minutes. When he goes to bed at 7 pm he wakes up at 4:30 am (not cool) so we’ve started letting him stay up til 8:30-9 just so he will sleep until 6:30 am. Our 4 month old is just starting to have a nap routine but thankfully sleeps 11 hours (knock on wood) at night. We are in serious survival mode over here!
Elizabeth says
Love this post. My kids are about the same age as yours and we struggle with this all the time. No nap for the 3.5 year old has like you said resulted in an ogre for dinner and bath time so we try to squeeze a nap in. Baby (as I call her) is all over the place. So great to hear I’m not alone and I have waved my white flag on overlapping naps. Just like you said it has made me readjust my type A self. I unwind and treat myself with some social media time and some nap time for myself
Heather says
Ah naps and the sleep of babies/toddlers/preschoolers. Both of our kiddos are thankfully on the same nap schedule, however it changes as to which will wake up first. We’re still up once or twice at night, though. Sigh.
I like to keep “fancy” chocolate hidden so just for me and there’s nothing I love more than getting to sit down and quietly read whenever I get the chance. It’s a nice refresher when I feel like my brain is going to overload.
Jerrica says
My kids, 3 and 5, do not nap and I realized when they stopped napping, I started going downhill. I already deal with anxiety issues and not napping really threw my emotions straight into the toilet. Instead, we started quiet time which works pretty well. I sit and chill out with some coffee and magazines and they play in their room together. It is amazing what a few minutes can do!! It works out though because they go to bed at 7 which gives me evening time to decompress as well.
Danica @ It's Progression says
yummm these look good! I love the idea of adding cherries.
Tracy says
You should give yourself a lot of credit for your good sleepers! It takes sacrifice and a ton of consistency. I don’t think it can happen by accident. I have 4 great sleepers and worked hard to get to that point. I held on to 7pm bedtimes as long as i could. My husband and I needed that quiet time each night! Kudos to you 🙂
Heather@hungryforbalance says
I have a love /hate relationship with naps. I love them and my daughter hates them- Ha! Okay, bad jokes aside, my 18 month ol has JUST RECENTLY ( like past few months) decided that naps are okay.
I agree that it is such a blessing when they are asleep and you have a bit of time to yourself. I do not usually treat myself during nap time, I am running around like a chicken with it’s head cut off!
Brittany says
I love anything with seasalt and chocolate! Yum!
Rachel Starr says
Kids and naps. It’s a constant struggle! My daughter gave up naps around 3 1/2 (she’ll be 6 in two weeks). My son, who is now 3, still technically needs a nap, but I’m over the fight, so I stopped forcing the issue. BUT pretty much everyday without fail, he falls asleep in the car when we go pick up sister from school at 2:30pm. LOL So…yeah. I just roll with it. I will say, it really opens up our afternoons when you’re not rushing home for nap time in the middle of the day.
If I were more motivated I’d bake up these little goodies. They’re very similar to a snack I mix up sometimes. I like cherries, chocolate chips and Blue Diamonds coconut flavored almonds. SO GOOD!
CIndy says
oh the nap woes!! I hear ya!! My son is almost 3.5 and did what Hailey is doing now a few months ago. We had 2-3 months of about 2-3 naps per week – he’d get super cranky on no nap days but go to sleep early and easily. Nap days had later bedtime and was always more difficult to get him down. And then one day he just stopped napping -we kept trying since we just did quiet time when he wouldn’t nap. But he just stopped taking them :(. It was sad, but after a few weeks of not napping he got used to it. The no nap related meltdowns became less frequent (now I just attribute them to typical 3 to behavior) and he got used to it. We still do quiet time for an hour in his room, but he does go to bed on the earlier side and sleeps a bit more at night than he used to. Just wanted you to know that while I miss daily naps, that there’s hope on the other side!! Hang in there!
Josephine says
My treat is definitely something chocolate or a microwave mug cake and a cup of tea. I let Arianna have some screen time at 4pm whilst I chill with my treat. Then I make dinner and it’s the bedtime routine. In bed by 6.30 asleep by 7pm up at 5.30 – a bit different to Hailey’s 8.30! I thought I would dread Arianna giving up her nap but it made her easy to put to sleep at night, she always took forever to fall asleep with me lying next to her before that.
Elisa Johnson says
My almost 9 month old sleeps a solid night most of the time (he might wake up once in the night a couple days per week)– he sleeps from about 8/8:30 ish PM to 5:30-6:30 AM. Daytime naps are usually 1 really long one of about 3 hours in the morning, starting at 9-9:45 AM. He might catnap in the afternoon (1/2 hr) if we’re out and about in the car or stroller. Most days it’s one nap, but sometimes he’ll do a 2nd one in the house (maybe 45-60 min). The other thing is—he never naps in the house in his crib. Only his swing. So I’m dreading the day (probably soon!) when he’s too big for it. I’m pretty sure I’m going to be screwed then!! Attempts at daytime crib naps resulted in lame 30-40 minute naps at best. Granted, I only tried it out for less than a week (that was a couple months ago). But I wanted his long 3 hour naps back, as you can imagine! Who knows how this is going to play out! Do they make toddler sized swings? LOL!