Bedtime rituals

Ordinarily, bedtime rituals consist of reading books, drinking a glass or milk and kissing your son or daughter on the head. While we do practice a couple of those items, we also have a unique set of bedtime rituals in our house courtesy of Mr. Matthew Aaron Hanson. Grandma Jane, Grandma and Grandpa Hanson and uncle Aaron know a couple of these rituals all too well. Most notably "talking about my day." Not sure when it started but Matthew insists on you talking about his day every day. We could be on the road in a hotel, at Grandma and Grandpa's house or camping--we always have to talk about our day. What does that mean? What, isn't it self explanatory?

It's actually not so much about you talking about YOUR day as it is you talking about MATTHEW'S day. Now, we have help from daycare, which sends all parents in Matthew's room an update on his daily activities during naptime. But basically, we follow the same, standard approach--"Well....you got up and had breakfast, you went to daycare, you played marbles/computer/sensory table, you had lunch, you took a nap, you came home and had dinner, read books and went to bed. Really, it's not complicated. However, if you don't follow this exact formula, or something VERY similar, he will correct you. "That's not how you talk about my day," he'll say. You think I'm kidding? Ask the grandparents. It's a fun ritual and actually something I look forward to each evening.

We also typically end up reading a lot of books at bedtime. But we also watch a lot of videos, too. Now, videos--yeah, you probably think I mean the Wiggles or Sesame Street or Elmo, right? Yeah, not so much. Try Hootie and the Blowfish or U2 videos. Or, the popular Will it Blend videos. This edition where Tom blends a Nike shoe is his new favorite (yes, he has "favorite" Will it Blend videos--there's about 50 of them...).



Or, recently, the montage from the end of Karate Kid. Seriously, he asks to watch these videos.



I'm constantly on the lookout for the next bedtime video--any ideas, send em my way.

Can't wait to see what Amy's rituals are--a whole new world awaits...