Night "Talk"

     My husband and I were driving to a football game an hour and a half away.  During the drive, I was expressing to him my desire to write a book.  He asked me, "What would you put in the book?"  I said that I would put in things that I thought we did that really mattered and made a difference to our kids.  We sat in silence for a time.  I was thinking; What did we do that really made a difference?  Several thoughts came to my mind but one stood out amoung the others.
     Starting with our oldest child (She is now 21 years old) until now, I have had night talk with our kids.  When Sara was little, we would start at a certain time each night.  We would read together, sing together and then snuggle together.  We did this each night.  Then Emily came along and Sara and Emily and I would read together, sing together, and I would snuggle each one of them for a few precious moments.When Jacob came along, it became a little more of a challenge.  I had to do two shifts.  One for the girls and then one for Jacob.  Each night I would read to them, we would sing together, we would snuggle together and then I would put music on and they would go to sleep.  Can I insert here that Jacob was quite insistant that I stay by him until he was asleep?  There were times when my arm would fall asleep because as I was lying next to him I would rest my head on my arm. I would rest my head on  it for such a long time that I would get a dead arm.  Now, Jacob is 18 and will soon be leaving and I am grateful for each "dead" arm!  Sam and Steven came along and the bedtime routine for several years took about 45 minutes to an hour.  As our children grew, the time spent with them at night grew shorter.  I would still tuck them in at night but we saved one night a week for night talk.  It was usually Sunday evening.  On this night, I would talk to each one of our kids.  I would ask them how the week went.  I would tell them of things they did during the week that I noticed that were outstanding, amazing, kind, and ordinary.  We would talk about school problems, friend problems, coach and team problems and share ideas. It was during these night talks that we  solved so many problems, and eased concerns. I guess during these wonderful  moments of time, I learned to see our kids for what they were and for what they could become.  It became an opportunity for me to express my hopes for them, to give them  my vote of confidence and to share my trust with them.  As tears fall on my cheeks as I write this, I am not sure why I started night talk.  I just know that  even when my girls come home from college, I still tuck them in and we still have those precious moments right before bed staying connected and sharing thoughts. Just three weeks ago, on a Sunday evening, our 18 year old and our 16 year old son asked me, "Are you coming down?" I jumped up from my chair and said, "Most Certainly!"  I have a saying above my kitchen sink that says, "We do not remember days, we remember moments!"  As I reflect back, some of my sweetest moments have come during night talk.  Thanks for reading!