I have two sons, 4yo and 2.75 yo. My older ds has been a great napper up until he turned 4, and then he started being able to go a few days without a nap. No problem, because he is happy to go into his room and read or doodle or whatever quietly for 1-1.5 hours. And he's been like this since age 2. Happy to sit in his bed and look at books until he falls asleep. 
DS2 is quite a different kid. He started dropping his nap at 2.25yo. I can usually tell when he really needs a nap, and then I'll have to lay down with him to get him to sleep. But on the days where he isn't going to nap, I am losing it! We have our normal naptime routine: Lunch, milk, books, talk, tuck in. I tell him that he doesn't have to sleep if he's not tired, but he needs to stay in his room and play quietly for a while. He is a very bright, verbal kid, but he is still just 2. I get that. But he comes out of his room every 5 minutes, I kid you not. Once he starts coming out of his room, my older ds hears this and then he starts coming out. So between the two of them, I have a kid in front of me every 2.5 minutes! And with the 2yo, it's not just a matter of addressing his questions and sending him back to his room. He is a master negotiator and he has all kinds of tricks up his sleeves which require me to be very creative and talkative and sensitive and at that point, I'm just drained of that type of energy. I've tried letting them be together in one of their rooms, but while that goes well for 10 minutes, it ends up with someone screaming, because technically, they really DO need quiet time, and they get on each others' nerves or someone gets hurt.
I am an introvert. I need some quiet time during the day. Ideally it would be one uninterrupted hour during the day to break up the 10 hours I spend with them! But now, I'd take 20 minutes. I see this battle with my 2yo becoming a habit and I really don't like that. I don't like getting snippy with him, but I don't know how else to curb that besides a bit of peace. Any ideas or am I just going to have to suck it up?
DS2 is quite a different kid. He started dropping his nap at 2.25yo. I can usually tell when he really needs a nap, and then I'll have to lay down with him to get him to sleep. But on the days where he isn't going to nap, I am losing it! We have our normal naptime routine: Lunch, milk, books, talk, tuck in. I tell him that he doesn't have to sleep if he's not tired, but he needs to stay in his room and play quietly for a while. He is a very bright, verbal kid, but he is still just 2. I get that. But he comes out of his room every 5 minutes, I kid you not. Once he starts coming out of his room, my older ds hears this and then he starts coming out. So between the two of them, I have a kid in front of me every 2.5 minutes! And with the 2yo, it's not just a matter of addressing his questions and sending him back to his room. He is a master negotiator and he has all kinds of tricks up his sleeves which require me to be very creative and talkative and sensitive and at that point, I'm just drained of that type of energy. I've tried letting them be together in one of their rooms, but while that goes well for 10 minutes, it ends up with someone screaming, because technically, they really DO need quiet time, and they get on each others' nerves or someone gets hurt.
I am an introvert. I need some quiet time during the day. Ideally it would be one uninterrupted hour during the day to break up the 10 hours I spend with them! But now, I'd take 20 minutes. I see this battle with my 2yo becoming a habit and I really don't like that. I don't like getting snippy with him, but I don't know how else to curb that besides a bit of peace. Any ideas or am I just going to have to suck it up?
