Bedtime

One of my favorite times of the night is when I put my girls to bed. It’s my chance to hear what is really on their mind, and boy do those thoughts come out. The floodgates are opened and I love it.

The ritual goes like this…with teeth brushed and tucked under covers I ask if my girl is ready, and if her answer is “Yes” its my signal to turn off the light and ease into the big comfy chair beside her bed.

Sitting in the dark has some unintended benefits. My girls can’t see the look of shock, confusion, or giggle (I am muffling with the stuffed animal thankfully sharing the chair with me) as I listen to the day’s events. I always hold on tight because I know I am about to embark on what is certain to be an emotional roller coaster. I say a quick prayer for spontaneous enlightenment before the ritual begins because I know I am going to need it.

Thankfully most of the time I get rhetorical questions. With a lot of trial and error I finally realized what my girls want most is to feel heard. My listening skills are definitely honed from these encounters. On the nights I forget to put duct tape over my mouth (best use of the stuff I have found yet), I am quickly reminded that silence is better than anything I could possibly find to say.

Anything and everything my girls have on their mind pops out of their little mouths. Most of the time I hear how annoying the little boy that sits beside her at school is, and worse, how he farts all the time. Which inevitably leads to the next question, which is why it is girls pass gas and boys fart.

When my oldest daughter was a little munchkin I would hear the same thing..."Rub back, rub back!". Now that she is 15 years old I hear more conversations, rather pleas, to refrain from doing any form of a dance jig in the car while I drive her to school. “Mmmmooooooommmmmm!” is the code word for that particular phenomenon. I think her job right now is to remind me of my constant state of dorkhood. I must be doing my job.