Bedtime Prayers

My husband was attending his special needs dad's support group last night, so I had the honorable duty of getting all three of our kids through their bedtime routine and tucked in. This is a challenging task even when we share the duties, truly daunting when it's a solo act. The oldest needs someone to lay down with her for at least a few minutes to improve her chances of staying in bed and getting to sleep sooner rather than later. The twins need supervision to stay in bed, too, sometimes for as long as one hour (I usually take my laptop with me, and this is my facebook and blog reading time). I still haven't figured out how to be in two places at the same time, so when I run the bedtime gauntlet on my own I get the oldest tucked in first, lay down with her for a couple of minutes (listening for sounds of the house being dismantled by her siblings) then give her a quick peck on the cheek and corral the twins in their room to tuck them in.

Last night about the time I was going to peck and run, the child says, "Mommy you forgot to pray."
Usually Daddy handles her snuggle time, so I was not aware that this was part of the deal, and it stirred all sorts of responses in me...

My parents did not enforce bedtime prayers. My brother and I usually listened to Christian music as we drifted off to sleep (I am a child of the Gaithers era), but there were no formal prayers. I'm not sure if there was a philosophy behind this or if it just wasn't something they did. We were certainly encouraged to say prayers at other times.

I recall one night "camping" with our Pastor's family in someone's yard. They had a pickup truck with a camper shell. All the kids were sleeping in the camper and the Pastor and his wife were sleeping in the cab (if my foggy memory is correct) with the sliding window open so they could hear us, but not see us easily. Pastor went through a roll call of sorts, asking each kid to say their prayers. I was struck dumb. I didn't even WANT to say a prayer, and the more he asked me to pray the less I wanted to. I was normally a pretty compliant kid, but for some reason I did not want to do this. I will never forget the strange emotions that stirred in me as I feigned sleep and prayed (ironically) that he would stop asking me to pray.

I was glad that my daughter wanted to say a prayer. I am glad it is a habit my husband is encouraging. I am hoping that next time I tuck her in I will remember and encourage her likewise.

"I didn't forget," I stuttered (not entirely untrue...I seriously didn't know this was the custom), "You can pray."

"Dear Jesus, thank you for Daddy, and for all the daddies. Thank you for [brother] and [sister] and for all the other kids. Amen"
"No, 'Thank You for Mommy?" I asked, feeling a little left out...
"Oh, and thank you for Mommy. There, I got you, Mom."

Indeed you do, my little prayer warrior, indeed you do.