post punishment prayer

last night as we were getting the kids ready for bed, something happened and allen had to get on to molly for not following directions. she cried through him brushing her teeth, and then he handed her off to me and i took her into her room. she climbed in bed and i tucked her in, and she said
molly: "daddy punished me. thats why there weres (she mixes up was and were) tears coming down my face. and it made my heart sad."
me: "molly we love you so much and we only want whats best for you. thats why we punish you. its so you'll learn to follow directions."
molly: "do you love me?"
me: "yes i love you. do you think i love you?"
molly: "yes."
me: "do you think daddy loves you?"
molly: "no."
right about then allen came in
allen: "molly, you dont think i love you?"
molly: (shakes head, bottom lip sticking out)
she told him the same thing about her heart being sad, and he told her pretty much the same thing i told her about us punishing them because we love them, etc etc.
then colby came in and we decided we'd all say prayers together. colbys been saying his prayers at night and then whoever is putting him to bed also prays when he's done. molly hasnt wanted to pray out loud yet, not on a regular basis at least.
last night, though, allen said
allen: "molly, will you pray?"
molly: "yes."
colby: "i want to pray."
allen: "ok, colby you go after molly, and then mommy and daddy will pray."
molly: "dear Jesus, thank you for this day, and just...for this beautiful day. and please God, that daddy would respect me......."
well, i lost it. i got that giggles and they would not quit. she kept praying, but i didnt hear any more of it because i was doing a pathetic job of trying to get myself together for the rest of the prayer.
colby: "mommy, why are you crying?"
me: "i'm not crying."
colby: "are you laughing?"
allen: "keep going molly."
molly keeps praying, colbys not paying attention because hes distraced by me laughing, which i'm still doing, and allen is squeezing my finger to get me to stop, which is only making me laugh harder.
do you ever get the giggles, and for some reason you cant quit, and everything else thats happening around you only makes the situation funnier; like when you're in church?
so then colby prayed, and i pulled it together and prayed, and allen prayed, and everything ended nicely.

allen told me later that right after molly said "help daddy to respect me, " she said, "and help me to respect daddy." i of course missed that part.
shes got the right idea i suppose. as the prince says in cinderella (a show i'm all to familiar with at the moment), "everyone deserves to be treated with love and respect."

amen.