Bedtime

Tonight, as I close the windows for the first time in a long time, anticipating a cold night and cool day tomorrow, I'm again reminded that the snow will fly soon.  As the days have passed by, I've again been startled at how quickly it gets dark and I'm reminded that now there is more darkness than daylight.  Tonight, as I tucked the children into bed after getting home late from Scouts, I'm reminded of a bedtime routine held dearly by all of us during the winter months and I'm thinking that we'll need to reintroduce it soon. 

This routine started while we read Anne of Green Gables.  In this story, there is mention of Anne saying her prayers by candlelight.  We had recently made some beeswax candles as part of our Solstice celebration.  So, Jaelyn and then Nicholas both decided they would like to have a candle in their room and say a little prayer before bed.  They would close their doors and ask us not to listen, so I am not sure what their prayers sound like.  Then, they would blow out their candles, crawl in to bed, we'd hug and kiss goodnight, then I would sit outside their rooms for one quick story to send them off to dreamland.  We had a few go-to books that we would read these short-short stories from Seven Times the Sun, Healing Stories for Challenging Behaviour or Earth Child (which contains little "dreamstarters" with an ecology theme).   Other times, we would borrow a poetry book filled with bedtime stories from the library and read a short poem.

Why did the routine end?  Well, May likely would have arrived and in our house, that means that any semblance of a routine disappeared - too many activities and too much sunshine still streaming in through the windows! 

But now, it's dark and the pace of life is less frantic.  The soft glow of candlelight feels like just the right thing for these longer nights as we retreat inside, both literally and perhaps figuratively as well.

Wishing you all pleasant dreams tonight!