it was unanimous….

“monkey pile!”

read a book

“you scratch my back  -I’ll scratch yours”

do you have a “special time” with your family?

 

ours is bedtime

the rascals are 7 and 5

we started our family bedtime regimen when Tuck was just a wee little rascal

simple Bible stories, prayers and sweet lullabies

… & then

there were two…

Jake joined our nighttime ritual when he was merely a few days old

and they’ve never known it any other way

many of our parenting pitfalls SCREAM at us throughout the day

but at bedtime our shortcomings are shushed by the laughter

we have remained committed and persistent in this particular area (mostly because of J.. he’s a stickler for routine)

shy of a rarity

and one of the boys fall asleep elsewhere (like alomost never)

or on vacation where all norms are absent

bedtime is the same

every night

the rascals slept separate until last year

when after a couple camping trips we decided that if we let them sleep in the same room then maybe, just maybe, they wouldn’t

GO FLIPPIN’ BANANAS

when they got to sleep together on trips

it’s worked.

after all are showered and smellin’ sweet

we gather in the boys room

most nights we read a book or two

other nights they wrestle, I referee

some nights we “chip-chat” about the day or tell funnies

have I mentioned Tuck’s a gifted fisherman?

and no, I’m not actually referring to his ability to catch a lot of fish but

rather his effortless ability to tell a “windy”

after a bit &  the tale has reached unsurmountable heights

J will read a story from the Bible or we’ll share something from one of our quiet times

& we’ll chat about what it means or might “look like” it “real life”  (application)

**true story: recently or actually for about 21 years Cowboy Dan and I have struggled with our tones

each one of us just as guilty as the other

and unfortunately we’ve begun to hear the rascals tones echoing much of the same

you wanna know why?

“Kids listen with their eyes”-John Croyle

it doesn’t matter how many times we TELL them to

“be kind with your words” or “speak with love”

if they don’t hear US  speak to each other or to them with “kindness” or “with love”

it is foolish to think they would behave any differently

SO

a couple weeks after hearing a great message on self-control

& by no accident the boys devotion that night- ALSO on self-control

while discussing self-control and what it might “look like” in relating to one another

an idea struck me

or maybe it was the Lord jabbing me since J and I had been in a tiff that day over “the tone”, again

“how about we have a family signal? a secret signal we can give one another when we sense the temperature is rising and a SNAP may be just around the bend”

the rascals loved the idea

the suggested gestures started immediately one after the other

J included

when I suggested “let’s think about it for 24 hours and then we’ll take a vote during our special time tomorrow night”

done.

and we did

same time, same place the next night

it was unanimous

the “T” became our family signal

and it’s helped, really.

we’ve given it to the boys, the boys to us, and us to each other

thankfully, the Lord forgives

He’s still working on us

and that is one of the many reasons why we close each night with

prayer

I wholeheartedly believe that a family that “prays together, stays together”

J or I lead, the boys follow

closing most nights with the prayer of Jabez,

together.

speaking of bedtime…

it’s wayyy past mine….

blessings to you,

k

PS-how about you?

when is your family’s special time?

remember:

A hundred years from now it won’t matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . but the world may be different because I was important in the life of a CHILD.

 Author: Unknown