Friday, January 30, 2009

Watching over us

Our younger son, now 9, has been scared at night. Considering all we've been through this past year and a half, I have been allowing him to sleep next to me on the floor.

When I was 11, I shared a room with my recently-widowed sister who had moved back home after her husband was killed in a car accident. All of their belongings were crowded in this large bedroom. I was often in that room alone at night and it scared me..a lot. I remember every night being so frightened and feeling like I couldn't go down to my parents for comfort because I was too old to feel scared. I suppose that's why I am so sympathetic to my son's fears.

The Swede and I are trying to help him with these fears. I told him that when I was a kid, I too was really scared. On the back of my bedroom door, I had posted a prayer card. I can't remember anything but the last line which read, "Go to sleep in peace, God is awake."

After he was asleep that night, I went in, kissed his forehead, turned around to leave his room, and saw this:

4 comments:

Merrily Down the Stream said...

That is so sweet! Found you through Oh, The Joys.
Stop by sometime.

The Big Finn said...

I like your new profile photo!

Hey, I'm in my 40s and I still have a bit of "afraid of the dark" in me.

Mrs. TBF said...

Hi TSK - Good to see you blogging...not that I'm one to talk/write!
I agree with TBF...on the afraid in the dark thing. Oddly, I told him that I feel a little weird going home now when he is away because King won't be there. Not that King was protecting me, but now I will really be all alone - strange after over 18 years with a pet or pets in the house.
Anyway, looking forward to seeing you all next weekend.
We are looking into adding another Macbook to the household - for me to use, so I have to promise I will blog again (I can't blog from my work laptop because it's blocked!)

Kim said...

You are a great mom! I think it is wonderful that you practice empathy instead of harsh rules.

Your kids definately know that they are loved. That is what matters.