The last five minutes of the day

I'm coming to believe that the last five minutes of the day, if I can stretch my patience that far which is always the challenge for me, may hold some of the greatest potential in terms of laying down lifetime bonds with my children. For whatever reason, they are the moments, again if I am willing to slow down and listen, that each of my children want to talk about things that are on their mind. A few examples...tonight I heard that my 2 year old wants a big boy bed because he is a big boy, my daughter was wondering who else will be in her kindergarten class next fall, and my four year old asked if animals live on the moon. As hard as it is in the final moments of the day when I've been going all day...I'm trying to savor the last five minutes. Two things I've been doing lately: Starting bedtime a whole hour before I actually want lights to be out so that it can be a relaxing process and asking each child what their best and hardest parts of the day were. I'd love to hear your ideas on how you bring the day to a close with your little ones!

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