A (long) while back I remember writing that Sam's bedtime routine always ended with the "four kisses," one for each sentence—Good night. Sleep tight. Sweet dreams. I love you. Since then, the ritual has grown, with Sam adding another sentence and kiss from time to time. Over many months, we gradually climbed up to 12 good night kisses.
Good night (kiss)
Sleep tight (kiss)
Sweet dreams (kiss)
I love you (kiss)
Really (kiss)
Actually really (kiss)
I should have said more than "actually really" (kiss)
I mean it (kiss)
For real (kiss)
I'm not just kidding (kiss)
Eleven kisses! (kiss)
One last kiss (kiss)
You'd think we'd laugh through the whole thing, but it's serious business. So engrained in the good night routine, it's like a secret handshake—all quick choreography and whispered passwords. No one could copy it.
More than the usual time has elapsed since the last addition, and I sense that Sam wants to add to the ritual, but there's something quite final about "one last kiss" that stops him. And twelve bedtime kisses (after 20 minutes of reading and three songs) is probably more than enough! But I happily engage in the ritual now and commit it to blog memory, knowing that as crazy as it is to consider skipping them even once these days, the day will comes when the bedtime kisses stop altogether.
4 comments:
That is SO sweet!
We're up another kiss. For a while, Sam would wait a few minutes and then say, "okay, now our "specialist" kiss — but it's not part of the regular kisses!" This went on for about a week before he floated the idea that we add it on to the end of the ritual. That's the 13th kiss good night. Now a superstitious mommy might be looking for something to top "specialist." :)
There's a new one. The 14th kiss in a row is called "Fish kiss." Yup, the sucked in cheeks for the guppy effect. Sam laughs so much, he closes his eyes about 9 kisses in to compose himself for fish kiss. Course, the whole list rings in at about 10 seconds. I let Sam ask for "the kisses," otherwise it's a simple hug & a kiss (which is more common these days than the full list, but we don't miss a week without the 14 kisses).
Heheh. A few more haver been added in the last year. After "Fish Kiss," which we're sailing through now, we've got "Eskimo Kiss" (a quick nose rub), then "Cheek Kiss" (rubbing our left cheeks), followed by a hug on the left side, then "Normal Kiss" and a long hug on the right side. 17 kisses and 2 hugs in the ritual. For months now we haven't missed a night.. As I'm walking out of the room, Sam calls "Good night. See you in the middle of it..!" And he does. :)
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