Prayers and Stairs

Today's not-so-favorite moments included . . .

. . . Daniel having a terrible-twos meltdown. For the most part he is pretty happy and easygoing, but there are a few things he has very, VERY strong opinions about. For example, he always wants to be the one to open/close doors or switch lights on/off, and if someone else does it he freaks out for a minute or so.

He also insists on going up/down stairs before I do, which I don't mind as long as he keeps moving, but if he just stands there savoring the illusion of power I eventually get tired of waiting and go on ahead. That never goes over well.

Today he wouldn't move after I passed him, either, so I told him he could either come up on his own or I'd carry him up. Still no movement, so I carried him up the stairs. He took at least ten minutes to recover from that one.

Today's favorite moments included . . .

. . . making homemade cocoa after dinner. It can't hold a candle to Swiss Miss or Stephen's but it was still fun to make our own, and since I put in a little too much sugar the kids loved it.

. . . this afternoon, Joy was reading our CTR board book and saw a picture of a girl saying her personal prayer at bedtime. Joy announced that she wanted to say her own prayer after family prayer tonight. I told her that was a great idea, and later after family prayer I put Daniel in his crib then Joy knelt in her bed to pray.

In contrast to her earliest prayers, in which she repeatedly asked for the same two or three things and never said thanks for anything, this prayer was all gratitude, mainly for family and food (she's certainly her mother's daughter). I was really proud of her for choosing to pray and giving thanks when she did so.