Things They've Said

Bedtime at our house involves some of our favorite family rituals, and sometimes it holds some of our least favorite troubles as well.  The kids are tired, and so, like all children, they don't always make the right choices.  In the midst of Ava being scolded for the umpteenth(this is a real word in my world) time by her Daddy, I looked at her in a typical mommy stance with my hands on my hips and said, "You are being a naughty girl tonight, aren't you?"  She looked at me in utter seriousness and said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Well, I am rather tired."  I turned away from her and walked down the stairs because the way she said it made me smile from ear to ear, and I, of course, did not want her to see me smiling at her little indiscretions.  Sometimes, the things kids say help to put everything in perspective, don't they?

After that incident, we were praying with the kids before bed as we do every night.  I have had friends tell me that their kids do everything they can to stretch out bedtime by blessing every person they know during their prayers(you know, like the clerk at the grocery store they saw two weeks ago), but my kids have never done so.  Tonight, however, Lukas ended his prayer the way he has been doing so more and more often.  "And God, thank you for my Mom and Dad and Ava cuz I love them so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, so, sooo, soooo, SOOOOOO MUCH. Amen."  I was about 2 more so's from telling him to say amen. 

We also have notes on the refrigerator right now which Lukas wrote to us last week.  I am loving these notes.  As the mommy who spends my days with my kids and rarely has a moment without them, I completely understand when they argue over daddy time.  Who gets to sit by Daddy, who gets to pick a game to play with Daddy, and on and on it goes.  When Lukas wrote these notes to us last week, I had to laugh out loud, but not in front of him, of course.  It kind of put it all into perspective for me and made me feel good.

My note says:

Dear Mom,

I love you.  You're the best.

Love,
Lukas.

Eric's note says:

Dear Dad,

I love you as much as I love Mom.

Love,
Lukas

That was good stuff for me.  I don't even know why I thought it was so hilarious.  I just enjoyed it very much and wanted to share it.  Mostly, I just want to remember it.  Of course, those notes will be going in a scrapbook or memory file somewhere to keep forever.  Things like that are priceless.  I'm sure I'll read them again years from now and smile even more than I am now.  My kids are great.  They warm my heart every single day.  I don't know what I'd do without them.