“I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.” – Psalm 17:6
Today my sweet daughter, Cate, is four years and seven months old. It’s 9 p.m. and we are winding down and getting ready for bed. This routine includes reading books — some nights, three books — other nights, five books.
The conversations at the Children’s Center have often included the phrase, “Finding our new normal” as we move through the COVID-19 pandemic. Tonight’s book time allowed me to reflect on adjusting to my new normal.
You see, Cate can now understand complex story lines, plots, and people’s motives, which means there are A LOT of interruptions, asking questions on every page. At each stage of her life, story time has looked different. When she was infant, book time was basic words with pictures, helping her develop her vocabulary — but little interaction.
When she became a toddler, her books were sing songs and nursery rhymes to help her follow along, and as she has grown, the story lines became progressively more dynamic and interactive. I never noticed the change in the new normal of bedtime books, it just gradually happened, and we have taken it in stride and been as flexible as we can be.
As we adapt to the new normal of life within parenting and the childcare world, sometimes it’s an easy adjustment. Sometimes it requires us “living on a prayer” (according to my mom), as we have done so many times over these last few months.
I encourage you, whether it’s an easy adjustment to your new normal or a little more frustrating or difficult, to “live on prayer” and continue to take your needs to God.
– Mandi Moon, Director of St. Luke’s Children’s Center
