Bedtime conversations

With three kids, we now have three different bed times…and three different bed time routines. On a good night, we go from post-dinner to all-in-bed-and-asleep in about 2.5 hours. It's one of those things that, as a parent, you slug through and then have moments where you are so grateful you could just about burst.

Like tonight. First bedtime, Roman. Our conversation went something like this:

Me, reading a board book. "Mama tickles my toes." (tickle his toes)
Roman: "Ba, Ba, BAH!" (kick-kick-smile)

Then Mr. Reni. We are finally snuggling into bed after our stories and videos (don't judge on that last one…somehow we started on this routine and he insists we stick to it) and I'm asking him to please stop picking his nose. He turns to me, fingers probing the outside of his nose, and says, "This part is bone and this part is mushy stuff." "Yeah, buddy, it's called cartilage. Did you know sharks are made of cartilage too? So the way your nose feels is kind of what a shark feels like." "And dolphins too, mama?" "Well, I'm not sure, but we can look it up in the morning." Reni inhaled and exhaled a few times, then asked, "Where does the air come from, mama? Do we make it with our bodies?" God, I love that kid's questions.

Finally, two bowls of Cheerios and one hour past our bed time goal of 8 p.m., it's Anika's turn. I give kisses to Rosita and Ani's stuffed bunny, Stuffy, then ask her to tell me one fun thing that happened today (my customary question, mostly because I get answers like this one): "I got to be with the big kids today - one girl was SEVEN!! That's even older than me! She could hula hoop better than me {slight sigh, then a big smile} - but then I tried it and could do it around my neck, mama! It was so fun."