GRAND Magazine - July/August 2017 Subscribe Today! - 5

grandsay

We asked readers: If you put your grands to bed at night or for a nap,
do you have a signature "Sign off?" Is there something you say right before
you kiss them and wish them sweet dreams? Do they say anything in
response? And, is this something you used to do with your own kids?
We got some wonderful stories. Here are just two.

Goodnight Gracie
BY DEBBY CARROLL

Irene Rosen Levin Garber: I made up
my own song when my girls were young
and my granddaughters love to hear it now,
too. It says, "Go to sleep my little one, go to
sleep and dream. Dream of pretty things and
lovely things. Dream of all your love. For your
mommy and your daddy love you so much you
know, and your sisters and your doggies love
you too. (Then I added Grammy and Pop-Pop,
aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.)" I end the song
with, "Now go to sleep my little one and dream
of all your love."
Aww... so sweet and loving!
And, then this one made us laugh out loud:
Ellen Remer Goldberg: I sing the
"Shema"(Note: This is the name of a Hebrew prayer.)
with them. My parents sang it with me, and I sang
it with my own children. Of course the four year old
5 GRAND

JULY AUGUST 2017

says: "Can we sing the Wheels on the Bus now, Mom
Mom?"‬‬
GRAND's own Christine Crosby: I confess
to saying to my kids... "Sleep tight and don't let the bed
bugs bite." But I didn't know bedbugs were a real thing!
I would never say it to my g-kids. ‬
As for me, I can't remember exactly how I put my daughters to bed. I think I was too tired each day for it to stick
in my brain. I know this, though. I put Avery and Damon
to sleep (after the routine of snuggle, sing, talk about
dreams...) with "Love you sooo much" and I am teaching
them to say, "Love you too." Why? Because we should go to
sleep each night with our last thought being about how we
love and are loved. (Beats bedbugs, that's for sure!)
Consider the last thing you say at night to your
grandkids. Is it the message you want them to fall
asleep repeating?

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