It is funny how family rituals get started. JD and I have a sweet one for bed time and I’m afraid if I don’t write about it, I’ll forget how it started, and then it will be more weird than sweet.
When bed time rolls around it is the child’s job to make you stay as long as they can thereby delaying sleep, and the parent’s job to find a reason to leave and still let the child know you love them. We make up little excuses that make it seem like we would sit with them all night, if only it weren’t for some little task that has to be taken care of. Rocky likes to use the line “It’s time for me to go check on…” and then name someone not in the room. I tend to put the blame on some chore that has been left undone. During JD’s nap I like to put in a load of laundry because it is something that can get done and not wake him up. I didn’t realize I had gotten into the habit until I was tucking JD in. I kissed him on the head and he looked up and said “You have to do laundry?”, and with that a tradition was born. Now every time I put JD into his bed be it nap time or bed time, I kiss his head and simply say “Laundry”. He smiles and I think he knows that when I say that I’m really saying “I love you!”
Years from now when he is grown and married and has kids of his own, I hope this comes back to him as a good memory and not some weird obsession with fabric softener.
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