Do you tuck your kids into bed every night? If you don’t, you’re missing one of the great joys-and opportunities-of fatherhood. I believe those fathers who stand the tallest are those who kneel at the side of their children’s beds.
Listen to what a first grader wrote about her dad in one of our essay contests:
At night before bed we talk about our day and if I am sad or scared he always makes me feel good before going to sleep because he reminds me of the good things that happened.
It’s interesting that when we ask kids to write about their fathers, many of them choose to say something about bedtime. But it’s not surprising if we think back to when we were their age. There were monsters trampling through our dreams too, and strange shapes on the opposite walls of our bedrooms.
As fathers, we can have a profound effect on our kids’ state of mind in those final moments of the day. Our children look to us for strength, stability and security as they drift off to sleep. But, too often, the day ends with hurried baths, last-minute homework and, perhaps worst of all, cross words about “staying up too late.” Instead of providing stability, we end the day on a downer.
Tonight, look at bedtime as a great opportunity-not a painful obligation. It’s a time when your kids will be most receptive to you (even if their only motivation is staying up for another fifteen minutes). We can use that time to help our children gain a healthy perspective on the positives and negatives that they experienced during the day. We can help them sort out their feelings and set a positive tone for whatever tomorrow will bring.
Most of all, bedtime is a perfect chance to speak the words of blessing that all children need so desperately to hear. What better way to punctuate the end of a child’s day than to affirm them for who they are as our beloved children, in whom we are well pleased.
Nicholas-a first grader-wrote this about his dad:
He gets home late but I still feel his big strong hands put the sign of the cross on my forehead saying, “God bless.” Then he leans to my ear and whispers, “Sleep with angels, son. Daddy loves you.”
