Now I lay me down to sleep

Hubs and I are in real estate. Not such a good profession to be in these days, but thankfully, it is getting busier for us. (The last two years have been really bad.) Anyway, I go in to the office 3 days a week. Gigi watches Joy and Marlo for me. (I have trouble trusting anyone else…they haven’t yet approved of another babysitter…Gigi is the ultimate MOM, but they even give her a run for her money.) But I digress…

Working three days a week means that I need to be super organized and super prepared. And I was…in my former life—the one Hubs (sometimes) nostalgically refers to as ‘BK’. (That means ‘Before Kids’.) These days, organized and prepared? Not so much. I try, I really do, but some days it is just out of my reach. (My high school friends swear I am the energizer bunny. I think my battery needs to be recharged!)

By the time we get home from work on those 3 days of the week it is past time to make dinner. It either has to be something I have prepared ahead of time or thrown in the crock pot or (as a last resort) something I have picked up on the way home. We eat and then it’s “Tubby Time!”

We go upstairs and do the whole bath routine. Then we do the bedtime routine. First Marlo: I nurse her, read her a story (usually “Guess How Much I Love You”), sing “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star”, say a prayer, LOTS of hugs and kisses, then I put her down in her crib, tuck her in and say goodnight. She goes to sleep on her own, usually within 10 minutes.

Joy is next: negotiate how many stories we are going to read, rub lavender oil on her feet, lie down beside her, read the story, go potty one last time if necessary, tuck her in, say her prayers, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, chat, chat, chat, chat, kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss, chat, chat, chat, chat, and so on, until she falls asleep. But back to the prayer…

Joy says the “Now I lay me down to sleep” prayer and then I say an original one for her. It starts out thanking God for the day she had, her activities, her family and friends…then we ask for God to watch her through the night, to protect her, to help her to have sweet dreams and sleep soundly, to hold her in the palm of His hand…then I thank Him for choosing her for me. On good nights she sleepily kisses me after the prayer, says something sweet and funny like, “That was a good one, Mommy” or “Good job, Mom, I think He heard that” and then she goes to sleep. But lately…

Lately she has been saying, “No, Mommy, we need three prayers tonight!” and when I ask, she tells me, “Mom, we need to pray for Marilyn’s family. They are sad and miss her because she’s far away in Heaven.” And so we do, (around the lump in my throat) because it seems so much more authentic when we pray about it together, than when I just pray about it by myself.

And I do pray about Marilyn’s family, everyday. I am just touched and proud that Joy thought to remember Marilyn’s family, too.

Posted by The Editor for Busy Body