Goodnight

I have the privilege of putting Nils to bed a few nights each week. Each night is an experience. We have a whole routine- brush your teeth, put your pajamas on, go potty, read a book, say your prayers, sing- finally, sleep! I always sing until he goes to sleep. If I try to sneak out of the room early, he cries.
Most of the time he is tired. He has busy days, and once the light is out and I'm singing, it doesn't take long for him to fall asleep. But every once in awhile, he gets a little nap in the car on the way home from Chicago. Those nights are insane! He'll just talk and talk or pray and pray the same thing over and over. He can say the funniest out of the blue things; sometimes in the middle of praying. Just the other night we were praying, and he grabbed my hand and asked, "How many fingers do you have?" Great question. He probably heard it at school. He remembers things so well- you just never know when something is going to pop out of his mouth. Then he tried to stick his finger up my nose! I don't know where that came from, but I couldn't help laughing while I told him not to do that. Then he started laughing, and I had to tell him to stop laughing and go to sleep. Then he laughed more just because I had told him to stop.
And I was thinking, "is this kid ever going to go to sleep?"
I love listening to him say his prayers. I always help out, but he gets his same little sentences in there each time. This particular night he said something like this: "Help Nils to keep safe. Help Nils to keep good......and to the republic for which it stands, one nation........" He didn't get much farther because I laughed out loud! It was a classic moment. He has been saying the Pledge of Allegiance lately, but when he mixed it with his prayer it was just too funny!