Please, Thank You, and AMEN!

I never, ever want to forget this about Connor. For several months now she has mastered the words “please” and “thank you.” She says “please” emphatically and always in conjunction with the sign language sign for “please” of putting both palms on her chest . She is also good at the “thank you” part, but it comes out sounding much more like “day, day” than “thank you.” Nevertheless she says them both in context and consistently. It makes us laugh and smile every time!

And recently Connor has really taken to the “Amen” ritual closing blessings and prayers. For a while it was just at night after the “now I lay me down to sleep.” She would nod and sing A-MEN and then bend in to give both Kirk and me Eskimo kisses and hugs. This made putting her down and leaving her to sleep very difficult.

But now to add to the “Amen” cuteness, when Connor notices me preparing food for any meal – it doesn’t matter whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner - she immediately scampers to her booster chair, gets in and holds both arms out (as if to beckon us to hold hands) and chants, “A-MEN, A-MEN, A-MEN!” Sometimes it is a good 20 minutes before dinner is even ready. I have never seen a child so excited to say “Amen” in my life. There are occasions that I sit down for breakfast and we begin eating without the blessing. Connor just looks at me and says, AMEN, to remind me!