Each day offers its own challenges and blessings and how we wake up to meet them can determine our ability to overcome and/or receive them. Furthermore, we equip our children for better or for worse with how we approach each one. For me and mine I have chosen to wake up with Story. Before the day even begins we set the tone and as long as I am able, the tone I want to set is “awesomeness”.
For our morning time, I would wake them with whatever adventure came to mind. Sometimes I would grab one of their favorite stuffed animals and talk with it about the dreams it had or what it was excited about that day. Sometimes I would tell a story they already knew but I’d tell it wrong and they’d wake up fast to correct me. Just a touch of antagonism goes a long way. Not too much or they’ll wake up grumpy which defeats the purpose.
One story that works every time to not only wake my kids but gets them up excited is the story of their birth. My kids are triplets, and their birth was exciting enough, but when I tell it, I try to include exaggerations whenever possible. If our daughter, our firstborn, came out screaming, then I’d add that her scream shattered even the doctor’s glasses let alone all the windows in the cars driving by. Since our first son, our second child, did flips during all the ultra-sounds my wife had to have, then I’d tell how he came out doing flips and had the nurses chasing him. And since our second son, our number three, took a minute longer to get out than his siblings, I tell it that now that he had so much room, he didn’t want to get out and was dodging the doctor. This story never fails to get them laughing.
Again, as I’ve said in earlier posts, let your kids’ reactions be a guide for what your story needs. I know what works for mine because they’ll tell me. They’ve interrupted me before telling me to tell it differently, so I say to erase what I’ve just said and I pick a spot and retell it.
Each day can be like an ocean and the challenges and blessings roll in like the waves. By waking your kids up with Story you can equip them with a surfboard, and you all can ride those waves in to morning. I really hope you enjoy your life, but if you don’t, tell a story that you do.