A Sister, A Brother and Bunnies at Bedtime

Wednesday nights are always a little different at our house because Daddy isn't home. Matt sometimes has meetings or events during other nights of the week, and when he does, we try to plan something fun, but Wednesdays without him are a normal part of our routine, and we shoot for easy above all else. 

 

 Wednesday nights look and feel different beginning with dinner. I always make something easy, usually something without meat (Matt doesn't consider a meal to be a meal without meat...), very often blueberry pancakes, oatmeal, or pasta. I don't give the kids a bath on Wednesday nights (unless the blueberry pancakes necessitate one), and I read to and pray for the children together instead of separately. I try to do an extra-long story time since Will and Sophie haven't gotten to experience the absolute joy of Daddy coming home from work, and a long story time takes the edge off.

Usually, I just let Sophie pick books, some from her shelves and some from Will's. (She's always excited not to be limited to three bedtime books). Before Christmas, she and I were reading while Will played with his blocks, monitor, or sound machine. Since we've gotten back into a post-holiday routine, however, Will is playing less with dangerous electronics and finding a passionate interest in books! Tonight he sat in my lap listening for the duration of story time. 

A special part of Sophie's bedtime paraphernalia is her treasured bunny slippers (a gift from Aunt Tori), and tonight she decided "bunnies" would be the theme for story time. (We've never had a themed bedtime story time before, but it worked out so well, I think we may make it part of our Wednesday night routine.)

First, we had to look for books about bunnies. I never realized how many children's books are written about bunnies, with quite a few being our very favorites. In fact, we chose three written by Margaret Wise Brown. We weren't able to read every book in our shelves about bunnies, but the the following made the cut:

• Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown (Will seems as though he will follow in Sophie's footsteps of loving this book)
• The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (hard not to love my version of this as most of it is sung... Too bad Matt wasn't home as he certainly would have enjoyed it...)
• Home for a Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown (she must been passionate about bunnies...)
• Tell Me What It's Like to Be Big by Joyce Dunbar (a newer one that Sophie likes from her Weekly Reader collection)
• Guess How Much I Love You by Sam McBratney (who isn't crazy about this book?)

 After one more round of Goodnight Moon and my insistence that we save The Velveteen Rabbit for another "bunny night," we wound up the evening with Wishes for You by Tobi Tobias and Henri Sorenson. I read this book to Will each night, much like I read You Are My I Love You and In Case You Ever Wonder each night to Sophie when she was a baby. First, I read Wishes for You to Will and then Sophie "read" it to him. She then went on to declare her undying love to him in a way that I so wish I could, first, accurately describe and second, burn into my memory. I thought about what Matt often says about how strange it is to witness the relationship that they have that, really, has little to do with us. 

This afternoon they played "seek and find," which, the best I can tell,  is a variation of "hide and seek with Sophie repeatedly hiding and Will repeatedly "seeking and finding," until Sophie's 

hiding became too skilled and Will burst into tears at not being able to find her. This evening, they ate dinner together standing on our learning tower, gobbling up food from the same plate, (Will taking two bites for every one of Sophie's),  with Sophie talking about how I make the best pasta with no sauce and the best crackers with melted cheese in the whole world. (I'm so proud...) I watched as Sophie stood behind Will the entire time, a conscientious mother hen making sure her chick stayed safely in his nest. I watched Will break down when Sophie did because she wasn't allowed to have the scissors that she hadn't put away this afternoon. I have seen and experienced the love between sisters, but I am totally new to the bond between a sister and brother. I am happy to watch and learn.