Tuesday, September 29, 2009

the Honk Shoe

The Honk Shoe sounds a bit like the name of a country-western bar, doesn't it?

It isn't.

Honk Shoe is part of the well-scripted nighttime routine here at our house.

The last few minutes before bed can get a bit silly, and Matt handles the rowdiness much better than I do. When he is out for the evening and I'm running bedtime on my own, it's a pretty serious business. But Matt has more capacity for silliness, and the girls tend to know what they can get away with on which nights.

I like to have fun and join in the silly business when Matt is around. A few weeks ago while the girls were making their final trips to the potty I hid in the covers of Julianna's bed. They had quite the time "finding" me and laughed so hard at the idea of Mommy sleeping in their beds. I don't really fit in their short little beds, which just added to the hilarity.

Another frequent request that I hear practically every night is "do the pretty special". The girls talented grandmothers handmade blankets for them when they were born. So Julianna and Lydia both have two blankets that they sleep under every night. (Isaac has his blankets too, but he doesn't sleep under them yet!)

So the "pretty special" is when the girls lay super still on their beds and I cover them with the blankets - spreading them perfectly and carefully so that all the corners and edges are perfectly straight. The first time I did it Julianna said "that's pretty special" and the name stuck.

But my current favorite is when they ask me to "sleep with them". They LOVE LOVE LOVE it if I lay down on their beds and pretend to fall fast asleep. I like to flop down beside them, lay my head on their pillow, close my eyes and pretend to snore.

Apparently, when I pretend to snore, it sounds like I am repeating "honk shoe, honk shoe, honk shoe". Because now when I lay down beside Lydia she dictates: "Mommy put your head on my pillow and say honk shoe honk shoe." Which just makes me laugh. And is also proof that I don't snore in real life, since I can't even do a good job at pretend snoring.

Of course since there are two of them I have to flop on one bed, find the pillow, close my eyes, say 'honk shoe honk shoe' for a few moments, and then launch right up and repeat the entire scene on bed #2.

Oh how those little girls make me laugh!

4 comments:

Krisanne said...

I was laughing out loud as I read this, so Paul wanted me to read it aloud to him and we both enjoyed a good laugh together! That's hilarious! Maybe we can do some "honk shoeing" here in February! :)

Julie Redfern said...

Fun, fun times. Justin is also the sillier one when it comes to the bedtime routine. I think I have just had enough and am ready for bedtime to be over with so I can relax that it is hard to be silly when on a mission! Will loves it when his grandpa pretends to be sleeping too!

Paul said...

the grandchildren want some snoring well just you wait- they got snoring on the way. and that neighbor with the drums - he too will have snoring - yep, people across the way, them too.

looking forward to some appreciation of a skill

love GrandDad

Mom/Grandmama said...

Where's Matt with the camera - I want to see a photo of the honk-shoeing! I agree with you and Julie - I think mothers are just too tired to initiate silliness at bedtime but it is fun to join in! And as Granddaddy said, you're in for some REAL honk-shoeing when he comes to visit. Hope the girls (and you and Matt) can get some sleep! We love you and miss you!