Putting Kristen to bed can be one of my favorite times of the day. The first half of the routine, putting on pajamas and brushing teeth, is sometimes difficult, as she is in the "I can do it all by myself" stage and so it takes FOREVER some nights.
But the second half is priceless. Kristen has several books that she LOVES to read at bedtime and becomes quite animated about when reading. This is even more true when Daddy reads. On those nights, I am upstairs putting Audrey to bed and I can hear them giggling and quoting their favorite lines. See a future post by Daddy about "Ira Sleeps Over."
After we have read a couple of books, Kristen and I brainstorm about what to pray about. She thinks about her day and names a few things or people to thank God for. The list usually includes dogs and cats, sometimes books, a lot of times she includes a specific food she had that day, and sometimes she thanks God for her house, Mommy, Daddy and Audrey. Then we brainstorm what to ask God to help us with. Most of the time she asks God to help her friends and Mommy's friends and Audrey's friends and Daddy's friends. One time she was really cute and she asked God to forgive one of her friends (who had earlier that day said stupid.) And then she thanked Him for always forgiving her for her mistakes and for forgiving all her friends' mistakes.
When we have both prayed for a few minutes, Kristen snuggles up really close, pets my arm, face or hair, and asks in a quiet voice, "Will you sleep with me for a few minutes?" And how can anyone say no to that angelic face, so I say, "I'll sleep with you for two minutes," And the little negotiator says, "How about five minutes?" and then smiles and giggles, because she knows she will get her way. During our five minutes of sleep, she continues to stroke my hair and tells me things like "Mom you have pretty hair," or "I love you more than chocolate." Often she will ask me what we are going to do the next day. After five minutes of laying together, cuddling, I get up to go upstairs. She turns on the ound machine and makes sure the volume is all the way up. I turn on the monitor. She checks to make sure the playroom light is off, that the bathroom door is open, that the storage room door is shut, that the laundry room light is on, that the laundry room door is slightly ajar and that the computer monitor is turned off.
and then comes my favorite part of the bedtime routine (well sometimes laying with her is just as good, so we'll call it a close second, but anyways...
First I receive a hug, then a squeeze hug and then a super squeeze hug. Then I receive a kiss, a squeeze kiss (where she places her hands on both sides of your head and then kisses) and then a super squeeze kiss (a more exuberant squeeze kiss that last a second or two longer.)
This is probably my favorite part of the day. When I've had a rough day, or my head hurts, I know that come 8:00 my little girl will throw her arms around me and cheer me up. I love the way she smiles at me right before the hug. I love the way her eyes seem to twinkle right before she grabs my face for a squeeze kiss. She is so loving and affectionate. I want to bottle it up because I know one of these days hugs and kiss will become more rare and probably less expressive.
After the lovefest is over, I get escorted to the stairs by my lovely daughter, where she says goodnight, turns and runs at a superspeed I didn't know preschoolers could travel at (she sure doesn't travel that fast when I ask her to hurry) to her room. When she arrives at her door, she hollers "Have a good sleep Ladybug." And I whisper back, "You too, Butterfly."
Check out an older post about Kristen and her cute betime routines
here.
