Praying

Before meals, when Bruce leads the prayer, the first few lines he says are always the same. "Lord, thank you for this day. Thank you for this food, and let it nourish our bodies."

Spencer has picked up on this and now he says it as his intro to bedtime prayers. We tell him constantly after he says it that we aren't eating at that time.

Last night, Bruce beat him to the punch. Before it was Spencer's turn, Bruce said, "Spencer, just so you remember, we aren't eating right now. So you don't have to thank God for the food, because there isn't any right now."

Spencer gravely nodded his understanding, and when it was his turn to pray, he began, "God, thank you for this day and for all the food we had."

He understood there was no food at that moment, but Spencer still thanked God for what we'd already eaten that day. It struck us as funny, and Bruce and I chuckled softly. But Clay and Allison heard, and they picked up on the laughter as well.

That really bothered Spencer. His feelings got hurt because he felt we were laughing at him, so Bruce explained, "Spencer, you didn't say anything wrong. We're just laughing because we thought it was cute."

Allison had her turn praying with no problems. Then it was Clay's turn. He was working his way down his mental list of prayers... for a friend who fell on the playground to feel better, "thanks" for this and "please" that.

Then Spencer started laughing. I nudged him, and Bruce gave him a stern look (which Spencer wouldn't have seen if his eyes had been appropriately shut!).

And Spencer calmly replied, "I wasn't laughing at what he said. I just thought it was cute."