Little Moments: Prayers by Atticus & Grace

For as long as Atticus has had an evening schedule, we have said his bedtime prayers with him. At first they were simple and routine and then as he got older, we added in table prayers and then he would say prayers on his own instead of us saying them. Then, of course, because he is a toddler, he decides he doesn't want to say them anymore so we say them for him. Then, he proceeds to forget his prayer manners and not close his eyes or be still or pay attention to the prayer. So, a couple of weeks ago, I started making him repeat the prayer as I said it. This kept his attention. Well, here is the prayer from one of the first night he started doing prayers this way:

Me: "Okay, Atticus it is time for prayers. Repeat after me."
Atticus: "No, Mommy. You we-peat afta me. Dear God,"
Me: "Dear God,"
Atticus: "Thank you for this butiful day!" (I repeat.)
Atticus: "Thank you for my fwim yessons. I yuv my swim yessons!"
Atticus: "Hep us to be nice to Gwace." (I repeat.)
Atticus: "Hep us to not push Gwace." (I repeat.)
Atticus: "Amen". (I repeat).

Since then, he has had some other hilarious prayer moments including one time when he included, in the prayer, "Help Gwace not to hit; because Gwace is a baby; and babies hit." Sometimes, he gets off on tangents and even stops mid-prayer to clarify something. But, the best part is that at the beginning of  every prayer, as of late, he says "Dear God. Thank you for this Day." And then he continues on. It's just sweet and if nothing else, shouldn't we thank God for giving us another day, each and every day?

Grace, on the other hand, has folded her hands for a long time when saying prayers at the dinner table. She just started copying a few months back and many times, as soon as we all sit down, she immediately folds those sweet little fingers and hands together and grunts to tell us she is ready to say prayers. Also, while she is not really talking lately, she will say "Hmm Hmm" when we say Amen. She is basically our reminder, if we sit down hastily to eat, and haven't said our prayers yet.

Such funny kids!