Last night I took both kids to the Ash Wednesday evening service. First, I was misinformed on the time so we were 30 minutes early. Second, I opted to put Little m in the Baby Bjorn carrier. Third, Big M took a long nap (after skipping one the day before) and needed to physically exert himself. These three mishaps made a recipe for disaster.
Rather than attempt to entertain/contain Big M for 30 minutes, we returned to the car. I let him play in the car while I nursed Little m. Then I got the bright idea that I would put Little m in the baby carrier rather than tote him and the car seat into church. I thought this would free both hands for Big M.
We returned to a rather full church and found a spot near the front. Big M started acting up instantly. He began to throw a fit in the aisle right as the elderly priest approached. The priest told M to be good and mind his mother. M stretched his arms up and gave the priest a great big hug. The congregation gave a big "ahh" in unison. There was no doubt that all eyes were definitely on us--not the first impression I wanted to convey.
M was his usual friendly self. M flirted with the lady behind us. At one point, he tried to climb over the pew to get to her. He climbed into the laps of two other strangers, simply wanting to be held. I tried to hold him on my lap a few times, but he resisted. Guess he wanted my full attention.
We stayed through the ashes. Shortly thereafter M was saying that he wanted to go bye-bye. After hitting his head a few times trying to crawl under the pews. It felt like such a failure on my part and left me frustrated. At least I tried, right?
One of M's classmates was at mass. She was sitting quietly and behaving. Why couldn't my kid behave during mass? I really needed that time to reflect and be reminded of all my blessings. Sometimes my cup runneth over, but at least there is something in my cup.
On top of feeling frustrated, we were all a bit sick. Big M is recovering after two weeks, but still wheezing a bit. Little m is coughing and spitting up some. My throat hurts and a have a rotten cough. Also, D is sick. On top of m coughing in the middle of the night, I awoke to a sore upper torso. Guess the weight of both kids (~60+ lbs) at mass was more than my body could handle. I am hoping ibuprofen kicks in and the pain subsides before tonight's workout. We shall see.
I'm just going to see if this post works this time before I write a lot again!!!!
ReplyDeleteah!!! why didn't it work two other times??? don't know????
ReplyDeletenow, what I said before,I would LOVE to be your church buddy so get yourself moved back to KY so I can be your church buddy.
In the meantime, I'm telling you that every other mother in that church has been where you are and they understand what you're going thru...don't sweat the small stuff......don't worry about what others that don't understand think!
as for "reflection" time....I hate to tell you but you really won't have a lot of reflection going on in church or anywhere else for awhile...a long while! You have two preschoolers that are not reflecting on anything but giving mom a hard time.... you are just trying to survive in church right now and trying to teach those two little boys how they are supposed to behave in church in the future!
now for a story... to make you laugh I hope!
One Saturday night many moons ago, my little sweetie known as Allen was acting up in church and mom had her hands full with the other two little jewels that you may know SO Dad said he would take care of Allen and "take him outside" which in my book meant taking said little one outside and having a strong eye to eye talk, giving him a warning of a soon to happen punishment that was sure to be unpleasant when we got home, and bringing him quickly back to our pew, expecting a complete change in attitude!!!! So I expected the boys to return very soon, but they didn't??? I kept looking to the rear of church wondering if they were standing in the back??? checking up in the balcony to see if that's where they'd gone for the attitude adjustment, but no sign of my boys??? Mass ended and I loaded up two very little people and all their toys, food, blankets, etc. ALONE and headed out of church only to find no sign of Dad's truck or Dad! I buckled in my little princesses and headed home wondering what in the world Dad had done to Allen. When I arrived, I found my two little men lying on the living room floor with popcorn and cokes in hand and a Disney movie playing!!!! I came unglued!!! Really, Really???? THIS is his punishment for misbehaving in church.....movie and popcorn! I don't think sooooooooooooooo. How did Dad expect Allen to act in church next Saturday night???? I took over the supervision of Allen in church completely for the next few weeks to make sure both boys learned how they were suppose to behave in church!!! Lesson learned!!!!
Good Luck with your lessons in church behavior, Krista!!!! Hang in there...it WILL get better!!! I love you!