Bedtime Stories

From tales of childhood past to favorite storybooks to sacred stories, reading at bedtime is a favorite passtime in our house. Some of us have difficulty going to sleep for wont of finishing just one more chapter ... or an entire book. Damn you Harry Potter!

Every night Coren arrives at my bedside, Bible in hand, asking if we can read just a little. He's reading through the Message Bible from beginning to end. He's seven. He inspires me to explore my Bible more.

Often, my kids ask me to regale them with tales of my childhood, their childhoods, and we find ourselves spending more time than planned sharing I remember whens. I remember when I was little and went on walks with Grampy ... I remember when Alex and Zachary were little and I was pregnant with Haley and Alex decided to move out of the family bed to his own bed in his own room and took Zachary with him and I was so lonely that night and for weeks after that I couldn't sleep and got up a zillion times just to make sure you were both still breathing ... I remember when Auntie Jen and I picked boysenberries and caught frogs and built sandcastles during endless New Hampshire Summer days ... And that time we were trying to take a family picture and Alex was resisting so much he resorted to martial arts moves ...  I remember when you were born and your soul wrapped itself around my heart, each and every one of you ... I remember...

These are the precious times. The making memory times. The I may regret it in the morning but it's so worth it right now times. These are the times I'll miss when the kids are more interested in Don't Wait Up For Me than in Bedtime Stories.