I have a theory that in every home that has children there occurs a periodic event that I call The Wakening Hour. This is a time that occurs deep into the evening when all or most all of your children stir and wander out of their rooms to find you. They are rarely fully awake, sometimes crying, and once you get one down back in bed another one will inevitably stir. This was the kind of evening we had last night when three out of four children came to life well past their bed time. It’s frustrating when you think you have everyone down, tucked in their bed for the evening, and then shuffling sounds down the hall and a sleepy child is now in your midst.
It is not the worst thing in the world. Most of the time they don’t remember getting out of bed. Yet, I think that when these moments occur it matters how we as parents respond to them. I am the first to admit that I am not the shining example of how to respond. It has varied from “WHAT IN THE….” to “Are you okay? Are you sick?” to “Oh no! Not tonight.” In other words; I am a flawed human being trying my best to raise my kids and I pray they know how much I love them.
Even when The Wakening Hour hits.
Rev. Shawn J. Smith 