Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012

Nighttime brings out the little kids inside

Bedtime has always been one of my favorite times of the day as a parent.

When my kids were little, I thought Laurel and Trevor looked adorable in their footy pajamas, and I loved reading bedtime stories to them. And I will admit that part of the reason was it meant I didn’t have to worry about the toddler eating the dog food for a few hours and could catch up on grown-up television.

These days my kids are most likely not going to tumble down the stairs, and I have more time for myself during their waking hours. So I love bedtime now for completely different reasons. Even though footy pajamas have long been put away, and the kids spend their days acting like “big kids,” nighttime brings out the little kid inside.

Each night, Laurel and Trevor ask me to snuggle and rub their back for a few minutes before they head to sleep. And often they tell me things about their day that they didn’t mention in the daylight. After a bit, I cover them with blankets and kiss them before heading out their bedroom doors.

Every few nights, one of the kids calls for me to give them one last kiss after I have tucked them in. I lay a few extra on their foreheads, because I know that one of these days they will decide they are too big for bedtime kisses. And “one last kiss” will be added to the long list of things I miss about my kids being young.