Gabby and I have a bedtime routine that we both enjoy (most of the time). After she's had a bath, brushed her teeth, and the older girls are in bed, I go into her room and read her a couple of stories. Then every night I tell her a "Princess Gabby" story. It goes something like this.
Me: "Once upon a time there was a Princess named Ana."
Gabby: "No, Gabby. Princess Gabby."
Me: "Oh, Okay. A princess named Gabby. She had a mommy and a daddy who loved her very much and she had 5 brothers named Max, Tylan, Shon, Austin and Francisco."
Gabby: "No. No brother."
Me: "Oh, yeah. She had no brothers. But she had three sisters named Brooklyn, Amaya and Sofie." (I should note that the number and names of moms, dads, brothers, and sisters changes every night.)
Gabby: "No, two sisters, Michelle and Ella."
Me:"Oh, okay, two sisters. She also had a purple and green dog named Buster."
Gabby: "No. His name is Chester! (said with some exasperation in her voice but a huge grin on her face.)
Me: "That's right, an orange and yellow dog named Chester."
Gabby: "Noooo, he's black and white."
Me: "Okay, well every night the mom would read Princess Gabby stories. She would hug her and kiss her (as I hug and kiss Gabby). She would tickle Gabby (as I tickle her and she giggles and laughs and squirms). And every night she would sing Gabby's favorite song, (then I begin to sing a song that she likes but is not her favorite.)
Gabby will then beg me to sing her real favorite song which is "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam". We sing it a couple of times with me throwing her in the air or bouncing with her in my lap. She giggles and grins. Then she climbs into bed, asks for a sippy cup of water, and almost always drifts off to sleep in minutes. It makes us both happy and usually helps me relax a bit after a busy day. I love to see her grin and hear her laugh and shriek, and somehow even after 3 or more months of this, it isn't getting old for either of us.
No comments:
Post a Comment