I Wanna Tell You Something

Have I given you the play by play of Greyson’s bedtime? You can’t wait to hear it, right? You’re on the edge of your seat…I know.

I give Graham a bottle at 7pm and he’s usually down for the count by 7:15. At that point, we get a solid 30 minutes of playtime with Grey. Tonight he wanted to play basketball in his playroom. The best part of it is he has to change into his basketball clothes. “I’ll be right back”, he runs out of the room and a few minutes later returns with his shiny Nike shorts and matching shirt. “Basketball” in the playroom usually consists of Daddy showing off his 1/2 court shot while Grey retrieves the ball for him over and over again. By the time Grey realizes he didn’t take a shot, it’s time for bed.

So, the routine. Mike usually takes the 1st half which includes going potty, brushing teeth and changing into pajamas. Grey is particular about his jammies and usually chooses them based on one of a few things.

• Favorite Cartoon/Movie of the Day
• Favorite Toy of the Day
• Current obsession that has nothing to do with TV or toys (i.e. pirates, Spiderman or bugs)

He’s not beneath pulling pajamas out of his hamper if his heart is set on a particular theme.

After he brushes his teeth (HIGHLY recommend the Sonicare for kids- it’s worth every penny) and goes potty, he gets to pick 2 or 3 books depending on his cooperation and Mike’s patience. We’re almost done with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and recently started Charlotte’s Web so he’ll usually get a few chapters of each and then maybe a Spiderman or Superman. Then Mike turns his bedside lamp off and says goodnight.

This is where I take over. I lay down next to him, he turns his back to me and lifts his shirt up so I can rub his back and sing. For 2 years I’ve been singing the same 6 songs in order and if I skip one, he knows. If I screw up the words, he knows. If I sing too fast he asks me to slow down. If I sing too slow, he sighs and says “Mooommm”. What songs do I sing, you ask? I wish they were original, I wish they were shorter and I wish I had a better voice. Here goes: Twinkle, Twinkle, Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children, Somewhere Over the Rainbow, Sunshine from the Bullfrogs and Butterflys CD which is an album I grew up with and finally I’ve Been Talkin to the Son which is a song I sang in 7th grade when I played Hark the Herald Angel in my church play- YES, I remember the words and YES, at the time I thought I was a really great singer.

After the singing is finished, Greyson pulls his shirt back down and we pray. We always thank God for His blessings, for our health, for good food, a nice home and a warm bed. We pray for all of the kids who don’t have good food, nice homes and warm beds and we ask Him to watch over our families and give us sweet dreams and a great day tomorrow, Amen. I kiss him, tell him I love him and start to walk out the door. And every night, without fail, he says “I wanna tell you something”. I play along. His ‘something’ varies but always starts out like this, “Ummmm”…

• “I like to play the guitar” (May 28th)
• “Why do you actually turn my light off?” (May 26th)
• “Why did you leave my Spiderman costume on the floor?” (April 19th)
• “I want to change my name to Mahmobongos” (May 25th)

Tonight, and the reason for this rambling blog post, Greyson chose his Buzz Lightyear jammies. He asked me to tuck Buzz and Woody into bed next to him and as I did so, I hit Buzz’s space ranger shield which made a spastic sound that scared the crap out of me. Grey giggled and said “you hit Buzz’s laser” and I said “I know!” and he said “Woody says it’s not a laser, he says it’s just a little light that blinks”.

Toy Story 3 comes out on June 18th. I think we’ll go see it.