Last Song

Bedtime with the kids has always been a difficult time for me.  My husband works evenings and as a work at home mom, I always feel like I should be accomplishing something, every second of the day.  I was noticing my evenings were when I just ran out of patience, so a friend suggested I take more time for myself.  What ended up happening was I decided to take time for myself, during my hardest part of the day.  I figured, why do meditation or yoga if it's positive effects will wear off before the bewitching hour?  So we moved up bedtime and now it includes 2.5 hours of slow unwinding.  Our favorite part is the hour long tub time where the kids sit in the bath and I sit on the floor beside them.  The room is candle lit and we have a special playlist.  I found it amusing that my 5 year old really wants to hear these songs and often asks to hear them on repeat.  One of our favorites is "Last Song" by Daniel Nahmod.  I find it the perfect way to end the day, meditating on something that captures the essence of, what I think, we are all here to do.  Some of my favorite lines are below.  Often I find myself humming this line during my day: "Has a child stood a little bit taller, 'Cause of something that I said".  It is so easy to forget how much of an impact our words have on our children.  I hope each day I can accomplish this simple task,  it just takes a moment to truly see children and let them know it.

If this is my last song / If this is my final day
If tomorrow I'll be gone / What do I want to say
If this is my last song / If it's my time to go
When my body's moved on / What will I have to show
  Oh, but fortune and fame - they scatter to the wind
  The things that make a name - just don't matter in the end

Is the world a little more peaceful
Oceans and sky a little more blue
Is humankind a little bit wiser
About the good that we can do
Does the sun shine a little bit brighter
Where before there was only rain
If so, then I'm glad I came

Have I given hope to the hopeless
Has a hungry soul been fed
Has a child stood a little bit taller
'Cause of something that I said
Have I left a little kindness
Have I eased a little pain
If so, then I'm glad I came
For that, I'm so glad I came.