We’re into a nice bedtime routine this summer. After dinner, we usually go straight to the bath tub, where the kids play until they’re pruney.
Usually the Little One gets out first, and after getting dried off and lotioned up, she immediately searches for her shoes, even though we tell her she can’t wear them to bed. We can tell we have a girl on our hands now, because she’s all about the accessories–shoes and hats!
Once both kids are out, we settle down for family worship time in Elizabeth’s room. We are learning a new hymn every few weeks with Hymns for a Kid’s Heart (from Focus on the Family). We love how much theology our kids are getting just by asking questions as they learn the songs. Right now we’re working on “This is My Father’s World.” (When we were learning “A Mighty Fortress,” Tommy would go around singing, “for still our ancient FOE, does seek to work us WOE!” I had to smile every time.) Then Derek reads from The Big Picture Story Bible and we pray, with Tommy always remembering his friends Miriam and Sofia and their Mommy and Daddy, who are telling people about Jesus in Albania.
Then it’s tooth brushing time–pretty much the highlight of the evening.
I sing Elizabeth “Come Thou Fount” while Tommy and Daddy play for a while longer before bedtime. We all like the familiarity of a consistent routine!
Hi Emily,
I don’t think I have your e-mail address, but I have a question for you. How do you get Lizzie to wear hats or shoes? Christina has absolutely no interest in either. I am less concerned about the shoes (she seems to do just fine without them most of the time), but I would really like for her to wear a hat in the sun, and a bike helmet so we can take her biking without her screaming the whole time. Any suggestions are greatly appreaciated. I think Christina is just a couple of weeks younger than Lizzie. On a spearate note, I hope you and Derek are doing well and I look forward to seeing you at Ann Louise’s wedding this weekend.
At first we always had to put on hats with a strap that tied or snapped, but she’s just gotten used to it now! If Christina is always trying to pull it off, a hat without straps (like a baseball cap) might be impossible.=) I think I also used to distract her by letting her hold my sunglasses and a toy so that her hands were full of other things. She has about 8 hats, and they’re all around the house, so she wears them inside when it doesn’t matter, and maybe it makes her more used to it when she has to wear them outside. I think it also helps that Tommy has a baseball cap that he always wears outside–she definitely wants to be like her brother. Are there any neighbor kids that Christina seems to want to imitate?
The shoes are a recent obsession–she’d been bare foot until she started walking, then I thought she probably should have something on her feet when she was out in public. The robeez knock-offs at Target always stay on well for my kids because the elastic makes it hard to pull them off. At first she tried to take them off all the time, but now she wants them on 24-7! =)
Routine is a wonderful thing.
We LOVE This is My Father’s World…Aidan has that song and many other hymns on his night time worship CD. Liam likes Come Thou Fount too…its on his night music. Routine is a wonderful thing. It makes our kids feel safe and secure, and we do too!