I try at the end of the day to sneak into bed with each of my girls…have a snuggle and a chat, a story and a prayer. Maybe only be a couple of these or all of them; a couple of minutes or more than intended. We’re not too strict.
I made a conscious decision a while back to see if a little one on one time with each of them at the end of the day would help them relax into a nights sleep, content they had had my full, undivided attention for a short time. With the lighter nights and later bedtimes, Abi in particular is struggling to unwind.
I have definitely found this has helped.
Tonight as I crept from bed to bed, I ended with Abi. Lying together on her top bunk we began to chat about how she got herself to sleep as a little babe. A thumb sucker, she has always been a good sleeper. As she pretended to suck her thumb once more, her little face looked just the same as it did years before…a real familiarity swept over me and took me a little unaware. A sadness of what was gone, yet a real contentment in the stage we’re at.
Annie wanted to know too…what was she like, how she went to sleep? So intrigued by their own stories.
They soaked it up…this chat of them as babies. What they looked like, what things they liked, funny stories.
I did too.
We giggled, reminisced and just lay.
I honestly think this little space of time helps calm and restore their wee souls.
Irons out any worries and concerns and allows a chance to say that thing they forgot.
To create the peace for a restful sleep.