Little Moments

So, I've got to say, putting a baby to sleep in his own bed is not easy--especially when he's been sleeping in yours for most of the last 13 months.

Kade is a very light sleeper and the tough part of this is not putting him to sleep, but in getting him down into his crib without him waking up. I've been successful at this for the past 5 nights, but only after developing a routine. After he is in his pajamas (if it's nighttime) with face washed and teeth brushed, I sit in his rocking chair with him and read a book, pray, and then sing a couple of songs. Then, we rock (which may or may not involve nursing). When I feel like he's asleep, I stand up and sway back and forth with him in my arms. Now, this is the hard part. If I don't hold him long enough, he will wake up as soon as I lean over the crib. If I hold him too long, he will wake up because he senses that something is changing.

The first or second night I got him down in his crib, I discovered that counting to 360 is the perfect amount of time for Kade to get fully asleep. I sway to the left and count 1, I sway to the right and count 2, and so on and so on. At 360, I slowly lean over his crib and gently lay him down.

Well, today at naptime, I was swaying and counting and suddenly, I thought--what a waste of time! And I realized something.

I pray for Kade several times a day, but I realized that mostly, I pray with Kade--for lunch, at bedtime, etc. I've really slacked on praying for him--for his future, his health--all the things I admired that my parents prayed for for me when they thought I wasn't listening.

So, today, I stopped counting and I started praying. Sometimes, we only get a few quiet moments in the day. The rest of the day, our thoughts are everywhere--work, husband, housework, money--everywhere but the really important things. Sometimes, we push the things that should be on the top of our list to the bottom. I want to make even my little moments count.

You know, people always say, "It's the quality that counts, not the quantity". Make this true in your life. Maybe you don't have a lot of downtime during the day. Most of us don't. So make your little moments count.