When Liam
was born, our second son, nighttime took on a whole new routine. Luke hadn’t
been what you would call a good sleeper, but Liam took that idea to a whole new
level. It took him forever to fall asleep. He struggled with stomach pains and
woke frequently, needing pressure on his belly to go back to sleep. Rather than
despair or fight it, I just found a new routine. Around six each night, he and I would
lay in my bed, nursing, playing, reading, until he would decide to drop off. I would
stay there and Luke would come in for his bedtime routine as well, Liam rolling
over in our giant bed so that Luke could read one last book before he would
go to sleep as well.
Fast
forward several years and you will still find me upstairs around 8pm beginning
a bedtime routine. It seems that over the years I have fallen out of love with
television shows and would rather spend my hours on the second floor of our home. First Liam, and then
Luke, traipse upstairs at their appointed time. The rule in our home is that you
can stay up thirty minutes past your bedtime if that time is spent
reading. So at eight o’clock Liam lays in my bed – sometimes reading on his
own, sometimes with me. We talk about Percy Jackson, how he can ever get out of
this jam, and then he moves into his own room to sleep. Luke repeats the
process at nine – still talking about Percy, but now we’ve added in Jason to
the mix. (And Piper, and Leo, and …)
Tonight I
looked up from reading the newest Horn
Book and thought of how much I enjoyed this quiet way to end my day. Books
and my boys over the past eleven years – many things have changed, but what is
important has stayed the same.
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Quick note –
March begins the Slice of Life challenge on Two Writing Teachers. You can read
more about it on their blog, but you essentially commit to attempting to record
a “slice” of your day each day for the month of March – not just on Tuesdays. I
will be joining in once again – some slices will focus on my classroom, some on
my life. My students will be doing a version of it in our class as well, but in
their journals. Even if you aren’t a blogger, why not join in by trying to
journal each day in March? It is a wonderful way to spend a month.
Slice of Life is sponsored every Tuesday by Two Writing Teachers
