Sunday, June 27, 2010

Mornings and making beds

I have tried forever to think of motivations to make beds in the morning. Leave it to Amelie to think of something that works. A few nights ago, she had a bad dream. Since it was already actually morning (nearly 6am) and Jim was working, I just had to come lie down with me so she would feel safe. Well, once we got up an hour or so later, I was in helping the boys get dressed and ready and encouraging Eric to make his bed, which he did--and he has actually been very good at it ever since. Anyway, Amelie rushed out saying she had a surprise for me. She had made our bed. She has done that now for three mornings, so this mornging while she surprised me with a made bed, I reciprocated. It has been a fun game and a wonderful way to get her (and me) to make our beds. She even made Tanner's one morning.
As for Eric, he has been the first one up on most mornings. He comes in and tells me, 'Mom, it's morning time. Wake up!' I have tried to reason him into a few morne minutes of sleep, but he is patient with me and stays by my bedside or comes to give me a hug, but if it lasts more a a few minutes, he reminds me again that the sun is up and it is time to get up. Even more, he has been making his own bed and changing from his pj's all on his own. The only thing is he gets a little upset when I suggest shorts instead of sweats or thick pants for the day. Bless his little heart! And once we are at the table eating breakfast, he makes sure everyone gets a 'Good Morning, _____' welcome from him. Talk about a sweet awakening to the day!

2 comments:

Just Joan said...

Cute! I always try to make my bed but I only last for a few days and then it seems like weeks before it is ever made again. The kids are beautiful!

Did Amelie get her name from that foreign film (I'm pretty sure its french)?

Allen Family said...

We didn't officially use the movie as a guide, but since I served a mission in France, I was already familiar with the name. We had talked about Emily and then decided to twist it to sound more French. So, Amelie it was!