Nightly Rituals . . .
Do you have nightly rituals at your house? They are wonderful and for those who have small children, they're very important to have. Kids need things they can count on in their lives. It will also give them material for "tales to their kids" when they become parents!
As a child, I remember the last thing we did each night was to have family devotions. That, of course, was before the days of James Dobson. We didn't have the neat devotionals and books filled with creative ideas on how to make family devotions "exciting" and "thought provoking." All we had was King James and Jerry Larpenter!
I always thought that Mom and Dad had our spiritual welfare at heart when they would read 10 chapters from Leviticus followed by one of them praying for the lost and dying; ALL of the world's lost and dying!
Now that I've become a parent, I see the real reason they held off having devotions until it was time to get into the bed. That was the only way they could get us to wind down and be still!!!
Ninty percent of the time, I'd go to sleep during family devotions. Being such a busy little girl, once I became immobile, I would be asleep. It was always so much fun when Dad would pick me up (while I was still the size his back would accommodate) and carry me to bed. If I'd been asleep, I'd usually wake up half-way to the room but would act asleep so that he would continue to carry me. Dad wasn't a dummy! He usually knew I was playing "possum" and would comment on it when he placed me in the bed. It was always the impish grin that would give me away.
Now as a parent of a 15 and 11 year old, I'm asked each night for a "story" and a "tucking in". It seems that the stories are beginning to repeat themselves and I'm forced, more and more, to dig into the recesses of my mind to find fresh and exciting ones. I keep threating to write a book and I guess in some way, I'm doing it with computer and online journaling.
Also as a parent, it is very imporant to provide "stories" for my children so that when they are grown and have children of their own, they'll have a library from which to access stories when they are continuing the nightly rituals!
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I was "Santa" and handed out the gifts one at a time. They each got the same amount of gifts and opened one together until they were all gone. That way I was able to get a picture of them opening each gift. Last, I opened all my gifts. We do the same thing now with Knock and it is then that I miss Radar SOOOO much. The first yera the kids were not home for Christmas morning was really hard for me. I didn't realize how much I counted on it.
Beth