During Covid my step-daughter and her family – in 2020 that meant she and her husband and two grandsons – came for three weeks and stayed for more than three months. It was a special precious time. And it turned out afterwards that soon we would be welcoming a new grand child! A girl. WELL…
That meant creating more space that included a bunkhouse for the boys. The next summer when they came for an extended length of time, unfortunately weeks instead of months, the nightly ritual found us all in the bunkhouse reading stories, saying prayers, and singing songs before the boys went to sleep.
Singing songs were usually the last thing we did. Going to sleep was the last thing the boys wanted to do. One night when we were together as a WHOLE family which included their two sets of Maternal Grandparents instead of singing just quiet lullabies we added some Neil Diamond. When were done the grandsons were absolutely quiet until one of them said, “If I just lie here and don’t say a word it means I really like it.” From then on the songs we sang just before bed included at least one rouser by Neil Diamond.
