Laughter, love, hugs, tickling, and warm, cozy feelings all flood my memory when I remember my childhood bedtime. As little children everywhere, no child is eager to go to bed. My siblings and I were no different. But when we were small children, part of our bedtime routine were "doopy" rides from Dad.
Just thinking or saying the word "doopy" makes me smile and I travel back to a simpler time, when the world only consisted of Mom, Dad, brothers, sisters and home. Washing up, getting our jammies on, hugs and kisses good-night, were all part of the nightly routine. But the best part was a piggy-back ride on Dad's strong back. I would stand on the couch and Dad would crouch down so I could climb on his back, and with my arms around his neck, Dad's hands supporting my butt, Dad would do a little gallop down the hall, bouncing me up and down, his hands patting my bottom, we would travel to bed while Dad cooed "doopy, doopy, doopy".
So bedtime routine became to ask not for piggy-back rides but for "doopies". We would call out, "I want a doopy!"
Doopy, a little nonsense word that parents make up as they play, raise, and love their children. Doopy, that means so much more than a piggy-back ride, doopy means Mom, Dad, and a childhood filled with love.
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