So far, Ellie’s sleep schedule has been the main event of our visit in Japan. I don’t think either of us will feel like we are really here, or able to enjoy the sights until Ellie is more adjusted. So Aya reached out to a friend who’s traveled to Japan many times with her kids for some advice on how to cope. The advice was to skip Ellie’s nap. What!? Skip a nap!? Are you crazy!? It kind of made sense, but it also frightened me. Her major freak outs have occurred from being over-tired. Skipping a nap seemed like adding fuel to the fire. But giving her a nap didn’t work, so this was worth a shot. But before we dropped it all together, I figured we’d try letting her have a catnap in her stroller for a little bit, just to take the edge off. So that was our plan.
TIME ZONE CONFUSION
This jet lag business is totally taking me back to when Ellie was an infant when each day felt like two days. Part one, and part two. We didn’t like part two then, and it’s no picnic now either. After the first night here, we knew it was important to get Ellie, and us, adjusted to the new time zone as soon as possible. So after our first full day, we figured if she had a nap, she’d be good for bed time. She was totally backed up on sleep and desperately needed rest. But somehow, this turned out to be a very bad idea.
LATE NIGHT EXPECTATIONS
It was a long busy day.  I had Japanese school with Ellie in the morning (which is a whole separate story in itself). And because of this, she didn’t take an official nap. She slept for 20 minutes in the car on the way there, and a half hour on the way back. When this happens, it usually means she’ll go down easy and sleep longer at night. But sometimes things just don’t go as you expect them to.
BALANCE
One thing I’ve always struggled with is living a balanced life. And as I try to be balanced, I find that it’s not only difficult to do, but also understand. What exactly does it mean to be balanced?
EASY STREET IS ABOUT TO CHANGE
It’s pretty hard to complain about things these days. Things have been good lately. Almost too good.
Ellie eats well, sleeps at night and even takes naps. Ellie wouldn’t take regular naps for the longest time. She would beat me down and beat me up. The next day she’d do it again and I’d let her.
In the early spring, I finally decided to put the smack down on her and I won. You can read all about that weeklong epic battle on my blog for the details if you’d like. (You already know the ending, but the brawl sure did produce some unexpected events.) But since I won and she has been napping now, I feel like I’ve been on Easy Street.