a blatantly mommy post. sorry guys.

I was thinking today about how one of our basic functions as parents is to teach our children how to - everything. Act, react, eat, live. Some skills require more teaching than others, of course, but we do a lot of teaching in daily life. I've also become aware recently that my teaching method is very heavily influenced by behaviorism. Which is funny, because I would never have labeled myself a behaviorist. I still don't think I am a purist, but when you're talking about the acquisition of skills, behavior modification is what I use.

So here's my challenge (by the way, I'm about 40% as neurotic as I used to be about All Things Asher. So this is a challenge, but not life altering, as it would have been four months ago): For his morning nap and his bedtime, we go through our routine, I put him down awake, he goes to sleep with basically no complaints. It's the afternoon nap that he simply will not take until he collapses from exhaustion. I am trying very hard to incorporate Asher into my life a little more, and not have the entire day revolve around his schedule. But today, for example, he was too tired to take into public. Yawning, fussy, rubbing his eyes - the works. So we ran our errand quickly, then came home so that he could go to sleep. He's now been in his bed an hour and fifteen minutes - not crying, but not asleep. What's that about?

I know how to teach him not to cry as he goes to bed. But I have no tricks up my sleeve for actually getting him to go to sleep.

PS - An update on naptimes: I still don't have any secret for getting a baby to nap, but I have figured out that morning naps need to be earlier than they had been lately. Also, I can't wait too long after he starts acting sleepy. There's a point of no return, to be sure.