Commit to change... More quiet time with Gracie...

     I have to admit... The younger my children, the more time I spend with them at bedtime.
     Gracie is fourteen. In. De. Pen. Dent.
     She amazes me at how she takes care of herself so well. She gets up in the dark, waaayyy before I do... and she gets herself ready for school... and she is out the door, in the dark... and off to the bus. I'm lucky if I get my head off the pillow in time say goodbye to her even once or twice a week.
     And evenings are more of the same. My 10-year-old often needs a little help with his homework. And then, there's reading with my 6-year-old.
     All the while, Grace is moving about quietly, getting her ducks in a row for the next day, getting her shower, getting ready for bed, and finding me wherever I am to give me a good night kiss.
     She often goes to bed sooner than the boys because she starts her day much sooner. So, by the time I have done the bedtime thing with them, and I check on her, she is usually fast asleep by then.
     I quietly whisper, "Love you," anyway, and pull the door behind me as I go.
     Starting this week, I will spend a little more unhurried one-on-one time with her. She is a good girl. I want to hear what she has to say.
     I read somewhere recently that a child opens his heart most, when the lights are out.
     Tonight, I will see.