If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff

If you read Juliana If You Give a Pig a Pancake, she will realize that she has the stuffed pig that's on the cover. She will then spend 5 minutes tearing her pile of stuffed animals apart to find the pig...And so begins our bedtime story tonight. I found it amusing that she wanted to know why the little girl that follows the little pig around looks so tired on the last page. "Just like Mommy" she says. Little does she know...

My life is a lot like the "If You Give..." books. One teeny-tiny little project can turn my house from nearly-perfectly-clean, to F3 tornado hit it in less than an hour. I am forever trying to keep order and still participate in the fun. I've found I can't do both. So F3 tornado damage it is.

The (near) nightly stories are having a great impact on our evenings. Juliana went to bed more easily than she has in a long time. Routine, I know, is a comfort to children, and to most adults. By witnessing the small changes that this one fifteen minute block of time is having on her, I am encouraged to start making more routines in our day. Next up: daily park trips! I'm becoming a better mommy, one routine at a time.