What is wrong with this picture*?

*Disclaimer: Not an actually picture because I am too lazy for that.

I'm sitting here on the couch, nice and cozy under a blanket, drinking a cup of tea and goofing off on the internet while my kid naps. As a nice added visual for you, I am wearing a very sexy pair of fuzzy pink socks.

You don't see the problem?

It's May. And it's 40 degrees out, with a chance of snow tonight. SNOW. In May. I will let that sink in for a minute. Reminder: we don't live in the Arctic. Or Canada.

Earlier this week it was almost 90 degrees. Ella and I hung out in her kiddie pool to cool off. I got slightly sunburned.

Mother Nature is giving us all the biggest middle finger ever.

I will cry if I wake up to snow tomorrow.

The nap window

I really miss the good old days when Ella was on the 2-3-4 nap schedule. It used to be I could glance at the clock and know exactly when to put her down, resulting in a lovely 2-2.5 hours each day when I could relax and get stuff done.

Nowadays we are dealing with something I call the nap window. In a nutshell, it means each day there is this magical window of time when my kid will actually go to sleep instead of screaming/blowing raspberries/jumping up and down/banging on the wall/whatever else she does instead of sleeping.

Here's the problem: it's a total crapshoot figuring out when exactly the nap window is each day. If I put her down too early, she isn't tired enough to go to sleep. If I wait too long, she is overtired and somehow manages to derive more energy from her sleepiness. Either case results in her not napping, one tired mama, and a seriously cranky toddler.

There really is no point to this post other than I am frustrated with trying to figure out when in the heck to put her down for a nap. If anyone has suggestions on how to solve this problem I'd be more than happy to hear them. Or if you want to reassure me that trying to understand your toddler also makes you want to pull your hair out, I'd be more than happy to hear that too.