before you say "good night"...

for the kids...

before you say good night

before that last kiss

before that cool sheet

is tucked within

before you say

"i love you"

do you know?

how their day went

what their memories of this day was

how they will remember you

on this day

did you spend some time with them

play games or dolls with them

did you talk to them

really talk?

did you hug them enough

did you kiss them enough

did you say something

that may have hurt them?

or were you too busy

doing dishes

doing laundry

cooking supper

paying bills?

did you take a moment out

to get lost in those innocent eyes

listen to those wondrous queries?

how will they remember

this day

before you tuck them in

say "good night"

kiss with an "i love you"

before you say

"good night"....

Author's Note

one night, after the kids went to bed i reflected on the day...not once...did i ask them about their day, did i tell them i loved them, did i sit and talk or play with them. my youngest had asked me earlier if i would sit and color with her and i said "daddy's busy, gotta mow the lawn." when i finished, there was a beautiful picture drawn with innocent hands of me mowing the lawn. as parents, we have several moments when we wish we could turn back the clock.

Reviews

[.]

oh a little lump of guilt in the throat - yes we sometimes forget the truly beautiful blessing we have been given when we get caught up in the humdrum of life..this my friend is food for thought and humbly take your comments on board and this is going in favourites as a reminder :)

[Ashesh]

Excellent! Nostalgic!!
Am not a parent but i once was a child. So i know how important it was for me to show my new drawing, poem, songs i learned to play on my new guitar - to my parents - when I was a child. But somewhere the daily humdrum and everyones demand to grow up made me bury those moments I wanted to share. Hope you don't miss such moments of your kids, Bradley.

[...]

. wisdom shines ... in a father's lines ... they're angels, bradley ... you must be so proud ... and what an amazingly beautiful thought and message ... on my nephew's 6th birthday ... i bought him a white board ... ever day when i returned from work ... i used to drop in to say hello to him ... (except on days when i was horribly late) ... and on the whiteboard would be the most poetic ... the most creative ... the most innocent ... and the most sublime ... record of his day ... it'd be about school or friends or something he saw ... just about anything ... and our conversation began from there ... and one night ... when i was tucking him ... he said he was glad i got him the whiteboard ... that way i didn't miss anything ... and then he chuckled and said ... i think you bought it for you ... because you miss me so much when you're not there ... and it's convenient because i can just note down something if it's important ... and i said but i also want to know the unimportant stuff ... and so we'd talk about what was on the whiteboard ... and then about what wasn't ... those conversations are the most amazing ones i ever had ... in fact ... i'm inspired to write about that ... maybe i will ... :) ... thank you, bradley ... you bring much joy ... and so do your lovely angels ... :) ...

[Jonathan De Elvira]

....very emotional...very deep...
I may not be marry yet, (well, probably never will if I give up quickly and pull the trigger at my head instead)...but I do feel the passion love towards children...
The love towards children is very deep, it even changed someone...

[Liza]

being a parent
being a husband
takes the passion out of love
love for children
love for wife
you want to know why
because of the responsibility
making us act like soldiers
the pressures
good that you realize it before its too late
and balance what really is important
love
showing it
being attentive