The Old-Fashioned Nap

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Dec 7, 1916

The Old-Fashioned Nap

It is an interesting fact that quite one half of the naughtiness of children is due to fatigue—practically all cases of fretfulness, very nearly all quarrels, almost every fit of sulks. This being the case, it would seem that mothers would almost instinctively see to it that their children are provided with longer rest periods. Why is this not done?

I think one reason is that the nap, except for babies, has so largely gone out of fashion. Time was when every child under six years of age took a nap regularly every afternoon, and occasionally in the morning also. At the present time, when so many children over three years old attend kindergarten, all small children seem, as one of my friends recently said, “older than children of that age used to seem.” The result is that the nap has been given up. It might well be resumed. The result would be happier, healthier, and better-behaved children.

But children are not the only persons for whom naps have gone out of fashion. Mothers take naps less regularly than was once the case. The consequences are as serious as in the case of children, and, if one may say so, very much the same. Many a mother falls a victim to these consequences; she may escape them almost entirely by taking regular naps. Why should she not revive the nap for her children and incidentally for herself?—Home Progress.