ToddleBits: Beyond "Our Father"

We all want our children to develop a loving relationship with the Lord. And they will, provided we offer them plenty of opportunities to explore and practice living a faith-based life. One of the most meaningful ways we, as parents, can provide an atmosphere of devotion is to model our own relationship with Him through prayer.

Traditional prayers such as The Lord's Prayer are important, but a strong bond between our little ones and our Lord can be better established by incorporating prayer into our daily goings on.

For example, with your baby's first diaper change of the morning say a simple prayer like,

Dear Lord, thank you for this day, and thank you for Mommy and Daddy and Brother and Sister. Amen.

Or, when your toddler starts testing your reaction to her teeth on your skin:

Dear Lord, I'm sorry for hurting Mommy. Please help me to make better choices. Amen.

Here are some sweet and fun prayers that your child can learn:

Thank you God for a world so sweet,

Thank you God for the food we eat,

Thank you God for the birds that sing,

Thank you God for everything!

And (to the Happy Birthday tune)

Thank you, thank you dear God,

Thank you, thank you dear God,

Thank you for families and friends,

Thank you, thank you dear God!

Finally, to really liven things up, try some of these dinner prayers:

Superman Prayer (to the tune of Superman)

Thank you God - for giving us food!
Thank you God - for giving us food!
For the food that we eat
For the friends that we meet
Thank you God - for giving us food ! Amen!

Jaws Prayer (said with hands on top of your head like a shark fin and in the same manner as the Jaws theme, starting slow then speeding up)