robots

a friend's mom made a really good comment to my friend about her daughter: your child is a human being.
seems pretty obvious but i think a lot of people forget that. my friend was worried when her baby girl didn't to everything exactly as her books on babies layed things out (not napping, sleeping etc as the book says). several parents of kids at our work (and even us staff sometimes) forget that the children are humans and they have their own wills, agendas and personalities and we can't just expect them to do as we say, when we say. we have a few parents that are VERY particular about how long their children sleep for at rest time (and a couple that constantly change that amount of time). they don't want their child to sleep to long (but some want us to make sure they do sleep and not just rest) so that they can put their child to bed at the exact time that works best for them at nite. its kind of frustrating because at 4-5 years old a lot of them are making that transition from needing a nap to not needing one and they either sleep and then stay up later than the parents want them to at nite or they don't sleep and are horrible to deal with in the afternoon and probably crash on the couch before dinner.
parents need to realize there is a transition time and its a process but it will end. until then it may mean a later bedtime at nite or dealing with a grumpy, overtired child but the child is a person and can't just be expected to follow the agenda of someone else because they aren't programed to do that.