Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Jane




"How many kids do you want to have when you grow up?" Jane and I snuggle, nose to nose. Bedtime. She kisses my cheek.

"A hundred," she says.

I smile into the dark, "Me too." A hundred! She squeezes my hand between her two, kisses the knuckle. Her top-bunk creaks.

"Yeah," she says, "but I don't think it's gonna happen for either of us."

I watch her mussy curls, "Why is that?"

"Because," she says, "I don't know of anyone who has that many."

She rolls on her back. I scoot into the pillow, and we weave the loose ends of the day.

Later, I tiptoe down the hall full of sleep and hope tomorrow is so good.








18 comments:

  1. sounds like a rather fun conversation...love laying there with my boys and just talking about what ever...nice.

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  2. "we weave the loose ends of the day." Beautiful. It's precious how her heart is so wide open to being a momma . . 100 times over!

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  3. The time and conversations we have with our children are priceless! This is such a sweet, and beautiful post. :-)

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  4. there are times when two *feels* like a hundred ...

    which must mean that four would feel like two hundred, right?

    love the nose-to-nose time you've captured here ... can't wait to share those beautiful, ordinary conversations with my little girl.

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  5. Think of it. Life so good for a child that she wants to have a HUNDRED children. TO create her same experience a hundred fold. Can she say I LOVE YOU any more graphically?

    You and Craig are doing something right.

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  6. Susan- you're right. But I think you must have started it and passed it down first.

    I just heard a Sara Groves song called Esther. It tells the story of a woman whose husband died and they couldn't have children. She moved to Africa. "Now Esther has 2.4 million children..." I feel that way some days. Be careful with who you let influence Jane! Her Daddy and grandparents will end up planting and watering seeds and you'll end up with 2.4 million grandchildren! Thanks for sharing.

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  7. Very precious. You must be doing something right if she wants a hundred kids :)
    To answer your question, we start the first day with a french toast breakfast, lots of singing, self-portraits, name writing practice (cursive for the older two now), a special snack, talk about getting back to daily chores, new memory work (will be earning engraved necklaces for their memorized scriptures), and, oh yeah, a bit of schoolwork too! Hope that helps.
    Have a great beginning!

    love, Heather

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  8. we weave the loose ends of the day... i cannot wait until my boy can speak. as always, your posts stop me short, with their simple profundity. love to you.

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  9. you have the most amazing conversations, your children seem like so much fun and sweetness rolled up into a ball. It's good for you to record these things, because they are extraordinary.

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  10. So cute, what wonderful mother daughter talks!

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  11. Once again, a beautiful post, Bethany!

    "She rolls on her back. I scoot into the pillow, and we weave the loose ends of the day. Later, I tiptoe down the hall full of sleep and hope tomorrow is so good."

    It's wonderful to hear about a mommy heart so full!

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  12. you are such a good mom, bethany. i always learn something from your stories you post. even though they are so instinctual for you, you are a mom worth learning from! thanks for sharing the cute things your kids say. xoxo

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  13. oh, and i've been meaning to ask you if you have any good recommendations of parenting books you have liked? andy and i wanted to read one together...it'll be our first real "parenting" book so we are on the search! thx b!

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  14. What fun reading together! To answer you question, I think that Parenting By The Book by John Rosemond is my favorite parenting type book. Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and Spiritual Parenting by Michelle Anthony are also good.

    Sounds sort of weird, but I actually read lots on leadership and consider how it might apply to parenting. Drive by Daniel Pink is good on that front.

    You guys are so good with your boy already. He's blessed to have parents that constantly seek his best.

    Can't wait to hear what you end up reading!

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  15. we still love bedtime weaving here.
    I miss them when they are away at school .
    this touched me so..

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  16. A hundred! You must be doing something right...my Ben says that he's not sure he's going to have any because he can see on my face how much work it is. Not exactly my goal. I've always been an open book? How to change that now? I don't know. Maybe I should be more concerned with changing the contents of the book instead of the fact that the book sits open all day long. {sigh}

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