Before dinner, we always let one of the girls lead grace by saying a little prayer that they have learned in preschool. Something simple, but serves its purpose. Before bed, I lead the girls in nighttime prayers asking the Lord to watch over our family and then I have the girls say whatever petitions they come up with -- usually a blessing for grandparents, cousins and friends. That has been the extent of our prayers because they are so young. In the back of my mind, I've wondered when the right time was to start teaching them the prayers necessary for church, anxious to use these prayers in our daily rituals as well.
Last night at dinner, we got on the topic of things that my kindergartner, Barrett, is learning is school. For some reason, my husband asked if she had ever heard of the "Hail Mary" prayer. Barrett proceeds to recite it perfectly. Then my husband threw out "The Our Father". Again, Barrett smiles and delivers the Lord's prayer word for word. I was floored. Not only did I assume she was too young to remember all of those words -- she had learned this without my knowledge. I beamed with pride...and told her so.
