Naps on vacation

When we travel, I have one requirement: my kid naps. I don't mean we're out and about and here's a stroller, good luck. I mean, here's a crib or bed, here's your blanket, see you in two hours kind of nap. Bedtime is a little more flexible, but not naptime. 

When we travel, I'm faced very strongly with quiet opposition and polite questioning as to why I insist. Why I'm not more flexible. Why I'm different. Why I'm overprotective. 

I'll tell you why, because today, instead of me hoping Mel falls asleep, eventually, at the beach, I brought him up to the room. He objected, yes. But after a bath to get off the sand, and before I finished reading the third (very short) story, he fell asleep. He never does this at home. 

He is tired. 

He NEEDS a nap. 

He is happier after a nap. 

I will not budge. 

Because, I know that when a kid is tired, he/she needs sleep. Not like it's a nice idea, but a need. And when naps are no more. When he's "too old for a nap", then we can drag him around the world with us. All day long. For the rest of his life with us. 

Naps are only the first handful (or less) of years. It's when they grow, when their brains develop, when language jumps happen. Sleep makes a quickly developing body function healthily. 

But really, I only ask one other person to agree with me: my husband. He's come around. So, good. 

(But why do I feel like an outcast? Why do I want others to accept my choice? I don't know. I only know I'm actually right with this.)