Laurel's Prayers

Our bedtime routine with Laurel is pretty simple. We read a few books, say prayers, and then she gets to choose what song we will sing as we leave her room. When we pray, I always ask her what we should thank God for. Every night for the past 4 or 5 months, we have the exact same dialogue. It goes like this:

Me: Laurel, what should we thank God for tonight?

Laurel: ABCDs

Me: Okay, we'll thank God for the ABCs. Anything else?

Laurel: Rory and Lisa

Me: Okay, we'll thank God for Rory and Lisa. Anything else?

Laurel: Jack and Jonas (the other half of Rory and Lisa)

Me: Okay, anything else?

Usually she doesn't say anything or she goes back through the list.

So, we thank God for the gift of language and the fun of learning, and we thank God for our friends. Every night we have this same exchange. Until last night. Last night Laurel switched it up a bit...

Me: What should we thank God for tonight?

Laurel: 1234

Me: Oh. 1234? Okay, we'll thank God for 1234. Anything else?

Laurel: Big books.

Me: Okay, big books. Anything else?

Laurel: Tiny books.

Me: Okay, tiny books. Anything else?

Laurel: Books. Big books. Tiny books.

So last night we thanked God for books of all sizes and for numbers. Children remind us to be thankful for the everyday things. They remind us that we don't have to wait for the big, impressive events to be thankful.

And speaking of Laurel's prayers...when my parents were here, each night before we ate supper, I would say to Laurel, "Who should pray tonight?" And every night, without fail, she would say, "Elmo." I love it!