Before we put the kids to bed, we have family prayer on our bed. Our two-year old sometimes cooperates and kneels down with us and folds her arms, but just as often, she doesn't cooperate at all. Tonight was somewhere in-between. She kept purposefully sliding off of the bed and running around as we read books. When it was prayer time, I lifted her back onto the bed. Right away, she scooted back over to the edge to slide off. As her feet were dangling off the side, she heard us ask her to get ready for prayer and sweetly folded her arms (feet still dangling). The second the prayer ended, she suddenly slipped off the bed and crashed onto the floor. Our first reaction was to laugh (we need to work on that). When we regained our composure, we (including our oldest) peeked over the edge to find our little girl still sitting there on the ground looking a little shocked. The sight of our three heads peaking over the side of the bed must have struck her as funny because she burst into laughter too.
They say a family that prays together stays together. I interpret that maxim broadly so as to include just being in the same room together while the prayer is said, which is the best we can do at this point. Even if meaningful participation from the kids falls far short of the ideal, at least there are moments like this one that let us laugh about it together.
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