Family Story Time

Both my husband and I grew up with family dinners every night.  We love family dinners with our little family, but that isn't always possible due to my husband's work schedule.  There are many nights that my husband doesn't even make it home by bedtime.  However, there are several nights a week that my husband makes it home after dinner, but before bed.  On these nights we have family story time.

We have moved our guest bed into my daughter's room.  When she is teething or has colds, I sleep in that bed with my daughter for a few hours.

During story time, this double bed is perfect for the whole family.  We all climb into that bed and read a couple of stories.  Usually, my son picks out the story, a boy-type story, involving cars and trucks.  We pick another story for my daughter, usually a board book of some type.  Good Night Moon and The Very Hungry Caterpillar are favorites in our house.  My son prefers that my husband reads the books since my husband does voices that never fail to make my son break into hysterical laughter.  Both kids eat a granola bar (mostly because they are picky eaters and don't eat much dinner).  They get sticky crumbs all over the bed, and love it.

I cherish these nights.  I know soon they will grow past simple books, and read chapter books.  My kids will one day my kids will be "too cool" to snuggle up with us.  Before we know it, they will have their own cars, and we will wait for them to come home by curfew.  Then, they will move out, and we won't even see our children for weeks, or months, at a time.  They will have grown up, and have families of their own.  So, on nights that we have family story time, I try to set aside my frustrations from the day and the bone-numbing tiredness I feel.  I snuggle with my kids, kiss them good night, and hold their little hands during our good night prayers.

I love family story time, and our little family.