The Best Bedtime Stories

Many nights we’re just so anxious to tuck the kids in bed and check out for the day!  I LOVE when they are awake, and I LOVE when the house is quiet and they are asleep :).  So sometimes, I am keen on hurrying through the bedtime routines and finally having a moment to take a deep breath.  But, lately I am also discovering this magical time when my little boy is tucked in his cozy covers with all six stuffed animals all around his cute face.  He is actually still and ready to listen.  It seems like the perfect time for story telling.  For the last few weeks, I’ve been staying by his bedside to tell him a real-life story or two.  Here are some of the stories I have shared:

• Mommy and Daddy’s first date – a taco eating contest where he loves to say with a little baby voice that mommy ate only 2 and with his big, grunty voice that daddy ate 10 tacos!  He seems enchanted as he listens with a beaming smile at our dating stories and how much we love each other. 
• What we did that day while also asking him questions along the way.  I think this helps develop his vocabulary and also to remind him of all the good things he did.
• Cool stories from the scriptures.
• Strengths I see in him and a story that shows it.
• We talk, we laugh, and we share family stories that I think have great meaning.  

Stories that vividly describe what your family heritage is like, who you are, and who your child is - really create a strong sense of identity.  In other words, stories that depict who WE are as a family, who YOU are as their parent, and who THEY are as a child.  Stories that bring our children closer to Christ and to better understand His gospel - really have the greatest meaning.  Here's one of President Gordon B. Hinckley's treasured boyhood bedtime stories: