Toddler Prayers

John Paul has been VERY into prayers ever since he started talking.  He used to request the Hail Mary over and over, shrieking, "Mee!  Mee!" starting at around 13 months.  When we moved in December, we started teaching him a new prayer every few weeks - he would request them over and over at bedtime, then get bored and want to learn a new prayer. 

His current list of prayers that he can recite with us/on his own:

Hail Mary
Glory Be
Our Father
Prayer to St. Michael
Guardian Angel Prayer
Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep
Fatima Prayer
Hail Holy Queen

He goes through phases where he's OBSESSED with certain prayers.  For a while we couldn't get through dinner without reciting the Hail Holy Queen at least 20 times.  And he tends to latch on to the last word of every phrase, which can be awkward when we're all praying the Prayer to St. Michael at the end of mass and a little voice pipes up cheerfully, "Devil! ... Host! ... Satan! ... Souls! ... Amen!"

Recently he started "praying the rosary" on his own.  Cecilia's godparents gave her a rosary (and many other gifts, most of which John Paul commandeered) for her baptism.  John Paul frequently finds the rosary and says, "Little rosary...  Pray Hail Mary..." and the prays in his little toddler voice, "Hayw May-ay FUWuv gwace load-ee WIH you bwess-a women bwess-a womb JEE-suh hoe May muh God pwesh-uh sin-uh now at ow uh def AMEN!"

I almost cried the first time he did this - what kind of toddler just decides to try to pray the rosary by himself?  Is he meditating on the sacred mysteries?  Probably not.  But when was the last time I actually sat down to pray the rosary?  Far too long ago, I'm sure.  I should probably try praying one with him - if I can find a good children's book about the mysteries, I think he might be willing to try.



In other praying news:  Our first naptime stall tactic appeared yesterday - I was about to get up and leave him when he started praying the Hail Holy Queen.  I immediately lay down and helped him finish.  Then he started the Our Father, so we prayed that together.  And again.  And when he started again it occurred to me that he was stalling, so I left.  But what an awesome way to stall!

He has also been VERY into crossing himself lately.  We get to Mass and he immediately goes for the holy water.   "Little bit," he says, dipping one of his hands.  Then he immediately goes for it - "Fah-duh, shun, ho-wee, bee-wit, Amen," clasping his hands together at the end.  We're still working on coordination of the motions...  Mostly he ends up touching his right shoulder 3 or 4 times...  But now whenever I say, "Let's pray" he immediately crosses himself, talking through it every time.

The problem with this obsession is that now he wants to cross himself with ANY liquid.  Ketchup?  Yes, please.  Bathwater?  Only from a red bucket, and only before drinking it.  The other day he kept dipping his hand in a cup of water at his snack table, practicing while ignoring all his other toys.  Today?  The juice from the tomato on his high chair tray.

When the thing you most need to correct your toddler for is crossing himself with inappropriate liquids, something's going right :)