sweet dreams

Well, it took long enough to convince this little girl that the book,  Alice in Wonderland is nothing like the movies. Its so frustrating when a good book is passed by because the movie has already been seen. *She loves the book* Okay, well lets just say she told me not to tell her that "I told you so". Okay babe, my lips are sealed! (Just keep reading...)

Every single night, for all the years I have been part of this family, there is not ONE night that goes past that Andrew has read to all the children before bedtime. Its a tradition, its a ritual. So much of one that if I happen to be the reader for the evening, some people have some issues with that. "but daddy reads to us". There isnt much resistance if I happen to be the reader, but it just goes to show how locked down this tradition has become in our home. And its good, so very good!

As of late, you guys might recall that the children and I have done some fabric and marker crafting. And because its been such a big hit, I spent some good money on fabric markers and let me tell you, they are SOOO worth it!

The children and I decided to do some pillow cases for their beds. I simply took some cotton woven fabric be it muslin, an old table cloth or even better an old bed sheet. I got out a pillow case and used it as a pattern, adding a 1/2 inch seam allowance.

We drew first and sewed later. This way we wouldn't worry about the markers bleeding through to the other side, just in case the wee ones were feeling extra crafty and wanted to decorate both sides. Whoa! Talk about a walk on the wild side!

I placed newsprint underneath of the fabric. For sure, as much as I love color, I didn't want any ink seeping into that gorgeous pine table Andrew made. The good news is, this marker isn't permanent on fabric until ironed. Which also means it washes off hands too.

I backed some of the pillows in an old vintage bed sheet. I left the top edge of the sheet as the opening of the pillow case (see lacey bits).
This made sewing much quicker as I didn't need to turn and top stitch the raw edge on the opening side of this panel.

I love this one most of all! Nico has just recently been making people and they are super cute. My heart melts too see his rendition of what we humans mean to him with pen and paper. The most amazing thing I have found with my kids, is how different they all drew as toddlers. Everyone had their own little perspective and each person was so different. Its simply amazing!

Now these little beauties are my favorite. Sometimes I don't know how bedtime would go if I didn't have this process to lean on.

These, you might be asking yourself, are dream cards. The children have made them and they contain little images and pictures of imagination. Something that they can choose from a pile of cards, to place under their pillow case to contemplate before drifting off to their slumber. Some of the cards have airplanes, trucks and construction working, horses, the woods outside, swimming in the lake, little garden gnome houses like Noddy and Big Ears. The cards are endless and the ideas are always comforting and creative enough to keep little minds busy enough, yet quite and serene to fall asleep.

But for those nights that aren't always that simple, thank goodness we have relaxing exercises. These ideas all came from The Sleep Lady. Must give her credit!

So, the moments when children still keep talking and getting up and down out of bed...yep...they can be very frustrating. And times like these, especially after a long day, I find myself in a place of resistance or yield. And yielding always leaves the mind open for the natural world to help us in times of trouble, as Echkart Tolle says. I try to yield, that is, accept it and flow with it. The children need more help getting ready for bed, so I can help them into that transition by flowing with that need.

Get the sillies out!
So first we run around in a circle like wild, out of control animals! Jumping, stretching, leaping! Big, big energy blast!

Then, we center. Calm. Finding our inner being.

Doing some yoga, we stretch our body to the side. S T R E T C H !
Now the other side.

Reach those arms up, up to the sun! Touch the sun and feel those warm golden rays on your face!

Now reach down, down to the ground. Wiggle those toes all together. Now one at a time. (can you? try now!)

Now those arms, bring them back, way back behind you like a pair of wings. Now close your eyes and imagine your a honey bee working hard collecting pollen to bring back to the hive. Move those arms around like the wings of a bee.

Now you do a squat and see if you can balance yourself. This takes some body control, but if your child is old enough, this could give a great outlet for that energy to be released and enough calming motion to soothe the mind and body for the rest ahead.

Now...lets hope that makes a good prelude to a long, healthy night of sleeping!