Sunday, March 13, 2016

Bedtime #sol16

I was looking for inspiration for my Slice today, and I looked at the link provided by the Two Writing Teachers. Looking at the different topics in the wordle, I honed in on bedtime. That word immediately conjured up sweet memories, both from my childhood and as a parent.

When I was little and bedtime rolled around, I would stand in front of my dad, stepping on his feet. He would hold my hands, and we would walk together, my feet on top of his. Every step he took, I took. We moved around the house checking to make sure the doors were locked. Then we'd go to my room and lay down on my bed. We would read. I know we read many, many books, but we had a few favorites: Eloise at the Plaza, the Teeny Tiny Woman, and Madeline. He read to me until I was old enough to read to him. Often I remember him snoring away before the story was finished.

When my children were young, we would snuggle up in their beds at night. They would pick out three books. We read these together, and my daughter would often "read" to us. She had the books memorized. When they got older I read chapter books with them. I can remember reading Holes with my son and both of us staying up later than we should have because we were so entranced with the story - just one more chapter is what was often said.

These are sweet memories for me. My father is now 85 and cannot read to himself anymore because of macular degeneration. Although he listens to books on tape and my mother reads to him, he misses it terribly. My children are almost grown, one 17 and one 21. Although we don't read books together anymore, they both have a love of reading and always have a book of some type going.

Rituals and reading - both bring back sweet memories.




7 comments:

  1. Thank you for sharing your memories and rituals here. They are so important. Last night we played a board game. It was a wonderful time of family togetherness. I hope that, like reading, it will stay with my children until they are parents.

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  2. Thank you for sharing your memories and rituals here. They are so important. Last night we played a board game. It was a wonderful time of family togetherness. I hope that, like reading, it will stay with my children until they are parents.

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  3. Love this sweet post! Bedtime is a magical time for bonding, reading, and loving!

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  4. I love how you've woven these memories together with reading at the heart of your story. These bedtime rituals are definitely a treasure, even when they've long been outgrown.

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  5. These wonderful, vivid memories make an awesome slice! I loved the image of little you, walking on your dad's feet and reading together. I love how books were woven into the fabric of your family memories.

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  6. I love the bedtime ritual memories you have with your dad. And you having bedtime rituals with your children led to them being young adults who love to read.

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  7. I love the bedtime ritual memories you have with your dad. And you having bedtime rituals with your children led to them being young adults who love to read.

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