This Morning We Got Up . . . And Now It’s Time to Go to Bed

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When our children were small, I often sang to them before they went to bed. Along with classic children’s songs were two that changed from day to day. One of these I learned when I first started going to the church nursery with our oldest child John when he was very tiny.

You simply sing, “God loves ________. The Bible tells me so.” You sing it again and again, inserting a new name each time. Our “God loves________” songs would go on and on: “God loves John. The Bible tells me so. God loves Bethany. The Bible tells me so. God loves Mary Evelyn . . . and on and on through Mommy and Daddy and grandparents and relatives and friends.

As I thought about this last night, I could hear the thump, thump of our wooden rocker.

The other changing song that I sang to our children was one I made up. I simply sang a summary of their day. I have no idea where I got the idea. I just started doing it. The first words were always: “This morning we got up . . .” Then it went on with words like: “And we had breakfast with Daddy and then he went to work and then we played with toys and then we had some lunch . . .” and so on. It always ended with the words: “And now it’s time to go to bed.” I was pleased when my mother-in-law who taught second grade told me one time that it was a very good thing to do for children.

It’s good to review the day, even if it goes more like this:

This morning we got up
And the dryer went on the fritz
And Ava stepped on her glasses
And Ethan stepped on mine
And I forgot to turn on the dryer
And the bathroom plumbing stinks
And I bit my tongue at breakfast
And nobody wanted oatmeal
And Michael couldn’t find his keys
And I forgot to call the bank
And we started “school” an hour late
And I burned the frozen pizza at lunch
And our milk was out of date
And I dropped my phone . . .
Yes, you guessed where!
And supper was an hour late
And I stubbed my toe on a chair
And now it’s time to go to bed.

Because in the midst of all those events, God loved you. Your children smiled at you. You looked into their eyes. You held their hands. You touched their soft faces. And, because you homeschool, you chose the lessons they learned today.

From the rising of the sun to its setting
The name of the Lord is to be praised.
Psalm 113:3

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