Sleep Well. Dream Big.
I say this every night to my son. I have since he was about two weeks old. The first night in the hospital after he was born I couldn’t believe how in love I was with this precious bundle, and how amazingly happy I was to have him in my life.
I wanted him to know all possibilities were before him. He could do or achieve anything. I wanted him to feel safe and protected. I wanted him to know he could recover and learn from his mistakes. How could I boil all that down?
It came to me after a few sleepless nights as a new Mom. It just drifted into my conscious and I knew it was perfect. Sleep Well. Dream Big. This, my son, is what I hope for you.
It means, be well prepared and take chances. Think about possibilities, not barriers. Stretch a little further than you think you can. Try.
I hope someday that he says this to his children as he’s tucking them in and giving them a kiss on the forehead. I hope he remembers it when he’s out of my home and my safety net and wants to try something new.
What do you tell your children? What words of wisdom do you want to pass onto them? We’d love to hear them.
About Lisa Johnson
Back in June, I wrote a blog post in honor of my daughter’s 5th birthday. Here’s an excerpt; it’s reminiscent of your message to your son:
At night when I tuck Savannah into bed, I always search my mind for the one thing that I can say or do that will stay with her. Something that she will remember in times of distress or happiness and use to make her life better/more meaningful/less lonely. I whisper how proud of her I am, how I know she’s brilliant and beautiful, how she will be successful as long as she tries, how she needs to be a good friend to have good friends, how books and the characters inside them can change you, how she needs to take responsibility for her mistakes but forgive herself when she makes them, how she needs to understand that education is power, how she needs to never ever let anyone touch her in a way that makes her feel uncomfortable, how she needs to remember to make good choices even when she’s feeling sad or angry, how she needs to understand that people who live a different kind of life than we do can be wonderful . . . most of all, however, I tell her how much she’s loved. Because even the most loved people sometimes feel bereft of a kindred spirit. I ache at the thought that someday she will be laying in her bed and doubt that she is truly accepted and understood. I feel sick at the idea that she will ever feel lonely or helpless or hopeless. I know it will happen, but preferably not on my watch. Until the day I die, I want her to know that she can pick up the phone and call me and I will always hear both what she is saying aloud and what she is not.
Tara, that’s beautiful … I welled up. I hope the same for my little guy 🙂
When you and your sister were babies I always said, “Good night, God Bless, Mommie a Daddy love you.” Your son is the most precious thing on this earth and you are a fantastic Mother.
My biggest theme is that my kids know they can attempt anything they want and they should not be afraid to give it a good go. It is something that I have been conscious of since noticing with my first born how often I said “NO” to her when she was a toddler. I was doing it to “protect her” and “teach her right and wrong” but that word was so prevalent in everything I said to her I worried that it was all I was teaching her. It was most likely the word she heard from me the most up until I made a conscious effort to cut it out. I don’t want my children’s instinct to be NO, it should be GO FOR IT!
Lisa, as if my words were not enough, I came across this video on youtube and found it touching and laboring on the point I was looking to make. It is worth the 2 minutes to get the point. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQlzz6jGCfI
You sound like a great mom Lisa. That is a great message for your kids.
We do a similar thing but we remind the kids that we want them to be happy and to pursue the things in life that they really love doing, regardless of the financial payout. We decided a few years back that our real job as parents is to nurture and provide our kids with an environment where they can explore their dreams and things they love to do… that way when we are gone we will know that our kids are happy.
Happy Holidays!
Thanks everyone, appreciate the sentiments. Amazing how cool our kids are, aren’t they?
L–
Thanks, this is awesome.
I always did affirmations with my kids at night. How this worked was that I would list everything they did that day, and I would use their full name, “Thyge Sullivan is a strong boy, he can kick a soccer ball soooo far, Thyge Sullivan is a kind boy, he is sweet to his sister and helped her color today….” And so on. I would pick the adjectives that I felt were the most important. I swear I could do this until they fell asleep. I liked to think they fell asleep thinking, “Yeah, Thyge Sullivan, that’s me, I can do all of those things! I am all of those wonderful things!” So far my kids are all of the things I whispered, all of those nights.
How fun! I say to Daughter the same magic words that I insisted my mom say to me: “Good night, pleasant dreams, I love you, I’ll see you in the morning.”
If she forgot one phrase, I would remind her which phrase she left out and insist that she complete the quad. I was convinced that leaving any of them out would result in certain death (or at least bad dreams or a crappy night).
I am still convinced of this. Thanks, Lisa!
I wrote a book, Magic Nights, about programming your sleep to be not just good, but productive. I soon found through people’s responses to my book and site that this technique would be a great ‘bedtime story’ to not only wish your child well for sleep, but empower them to put on their ‘captain’s uniform’ , gather their own special crew and sail off to a destination of their choosing. Just for fun, I also wrote a Magic Nights lullaby sea chanty to help them remember that every night, as the captain of their magic nights dream ship, they are in charge and can have adventures all their own. In my book I teach the adults the simple visualization technique and which words work best. Then parents could teach their children It’s a great empowering tool they can use for the rest of their lives. I use sleep well, dream big as the title of my blog in my book site. Read the children’s blogs and have fun every night.