Sweet Moments

I love tucking my kids into bed. There are nights when everyone is crying and wants me all at once and those aren't so fun, but mostly I love tucking them in. I love the little rituals that they each have, and how they remind me if we've skipped a step. Lately, our nighttime rituals have included reading passages from the Bible for our new 'Jesse Tree' tradition, and checking out the advent calendar. For Katie, bedtime isn't complete without saying goodnight to Daddy at least three times, and giving her brothers various forms of air kisses. She has to pick out a book and get her 'bup.' (cup) I rock her for a couple minutes, and she doesn't like to face me. She always wants to sit out, and look at her book in the dark. And I must sing 'Winkle Star.' Sometimes she sings with me. I love the brief snugly moments I have with her. When I put her in her crib, she puts her book on her chest, her cup next to her and then gets tucked in. The book has to be tucked in with her. (We later extract it from her hands) She usually chatters to herself for a while and makes hilarious noises before she falls asleep. James is more established in his bedtime habits, and it goes as follows: 'From when you were a little girl' (image that all said so fast it becomes one word), pray and sing. Each night he wants a story from when I was a little girl. No other story will do. And sometimes, when I am feeling particularly stumped, and tell him some lame story like 'My mom used to put hot dogs in macaroni and cheese,' he will kindly tell me 'That one wasn't a good one, Mama. I want another one.' After the story is told, we pray and then I sing a song. Sometimes James gets to talking about 'really good ideas' for 'contraptions' or asks me deep spiritual questions. Other times, he tells me that he really had a terrible day, or a good day. Sometimes he tells me 'I love you really much, Mama.' And that just melts my heart. Sometimes the best moments come at bedtime. (Oh, and the quiet that comes after it isn't so bad either :) Now if only Tyler would go back to a better sleeping routine.....