Say the Words Please

Ted was gone and I was just about finished with the entire bedtime routine. Tessa was laying in her bed, I had tickled her back, and I leaned over to kiss her goodnight. In her sleepy half awake tone she told me, "say the words." I didn't know what she meant, but I turned and told her, "goodnight." That woke her up.

"No. Say the words." So I responded with "Sweet dreams." Now she was getting irritated. "No. Say the right words."

I had no idea what she was talking about. She seemed frustrated but she was too tired to argue anymore, so she rolled over and went to sleep.

When Ted came home I told him about it and asked if he knew what she was talking about. He smiled and told me, and the next night I heard their own little bedtime routine. Ted tucked her into bed, kissed her goodnight, and said, "You are a good girl, a smart girl, and a strong girl, and I love you very, very much. Sweet dreams, jellybean." Then she responded, "good night daddy jellybean."

My heart melted as I heard this interaction, and now I know what "the words" are. Sweet.

It is precisely these moments that keep me going - the moments that make you remember how sweet and precious your 4-year-old is. The moments that keep me from flipping out when she asks me to help her tape something up to her door only to realize it is a picture of me with an "X" through it.

Yep. Sweet. :)