The Mattress

One of the best things we ever did was to place a full-size mattress on the floor in a corner of our playroom! It had come with the first house we had bought and was nearly new....we took it along to our bigger house six years later and it was used for a total of 10-12 years!
It was a resting place where, every afternoon, all of us would lie down crossways, read 2-3 storybooks, and then fall asleep for a nap. It was our rule for a long time that everyone take a nap until age five....or at least rest and/or play quietly, including me and sometimes our cat, Buckwheat, and later, Sparky....
The most memorable breach of that rule was when my oldest got into my nail polish and "decorated" my bedroom mirror at our first house. Otherwise it worked pretty well for all of us, including Dad on weekends....
The mattress served as an exercise mat too, well-suited for jumping, rolling, somersaults, and the like. It especially came in handy in the winter, when much outdoor exercise was not available.
Plus, the children who were in beginning acrobatics all learned back bends on that well-padded surface.....
Many a sleepyhead in p.j.'s fell asleep on its "PEANUTS" characters' fitted sheet in the evenings and was carried and/or guided up to bed at a later hour.
When the time came, it was really hard to let it go, and I have recommended having even a twin-size one to many parents over the years, for the exercise value alone!