Counting the Omer, Day 7

It is fascinating to hear my boys learn to pray.

They both want to pray after being tucked into their bunk bed.

Gallant (at two-and-a-half) aways wants to first and prays the same way.  He says thank you (presumably to God, but perhaps to me or to the room) for one thing and then laughs and laughs.  I am not sure why he thinks his prayer is so fun or funny.

Tonight it was, "Thank you for ice cream!"  Giggle giggle giggle giggle.

Then they want me to pray.

Smiley (at six) likes to pray last.  He prefers to wait for his little brother to be quiet, but is learning the valuable lesson that you can pray even in non-optimal situations.  His prayers are mostly a list of thanks, but he mixes in occasional requests.  His stream of consciousness seems to mix the general theological issues with the day's specific events.  He always inserts God's name in his first thanks, or after a long pause if he loses his train of thought.

Tonight his prayer went something like, "Thank you, God, for This World and the World to Come.  Thank you for Pesach and holidays.  Thank you for judgment so bad things do not last forever.  Thank you for animals, like cows, so we can have milk and nice things.  [Perhaps he was hesitant to echo his brother's thanks for the chocolate ice cream we had for desert?]  Thank you for our house and toys.  Please help us make good choices.  Thank you for school and how fun it is.  Thank you for helping us.  Thank you for nice things.  Amen."

No photograph for this blog post, since they so far only pray in the dark.  We are still working on talking with God during the day.