I admit it. I am miserable today.
First, it was the family kickoff for our new sunday school today, and Nguyen didn't want to come. Well, actually, he finally said he would come for the kickoff, but wouldn't stay for the service. I said, uh, no thanks. I mean, if the kids have to sit through the service, doesn't that send a weird message that he doesn't?
Which brings me to the second thing. Grace has moved sunday school to between the services, which means that I have the wiggly boys in the pew with me for the entire service now. Oh, sure, they gave us some crayons and paper and a little kids order of service to color, but by the end of the service I was really quite beside myself thinking that I won't ever get a peaceful moment of quiet in church again. (Can you sense how I am catastrophizing this?) (Is that even a word?)
Don't get me wrong, I love my kids. I love being with them. I get a chuckle at Emmett dutifully filliing out his puzzles on the jr. order of service and showing me proudly when they are done. But the service was over an hour long today and about 20 minutes into it the kids started and I was, well, ready to cry by the end of it.
Nguyen refuses to come.
The kids are bored out of their minds.
I was on the verge of tears all the way home.
(Breathing deeply)
I always hate reading people complain on their blogs... so I'll try and keep the whining to a dull roar in the future. (emphasis on dull? LOL)
But thanks for any comments you might have. I really need help with this.
4 comments:
I feel for you Rachel. And don't feel bad about complaining. You're just writing...not forcing anyone to read it! Anyway, I appreciate your honesty. I have no wise advice to offer, but I do remember well being a mom with young children. I didn't think I'd make it sometimes. But I did and now they are grown, and while I am happy to have the time to myself that I've craved, I also miss the sweetness of my little ones.
We used to bring lots of quiet stuff for the kids and let them go as long as they were quiet. As much as I appreciated the stuff provided by the church the kids went through it very quickly.
But the best thing was when many of the mothers with young kids got together to provide "children's church" between services. All of the kids were invited to the fellowship room downstairs where they were entertained Vacation Bible School style with songs and crafts and a mini service to get them in the rhythm of real church. At first we split the job between us, then some of the teens took it over. That was good practice for them in how to teach a class too.... It was work, but worked for us.
Dear Rachel,
I can feel your pain...a woman at my church is in a similar situation in that she comes to worship with her son but feel she can't concentrate on the service! As a solution we've worked out that she convinces her son to sit with my family as often as possible (preferably behind her and several pews.) Together the boys are amused, and while not perfect angels, they are actually enjoying being a church. And so are the moms! I found that returning to work full-time has given me a lot of patience for the fidgeting a constant chatter of the children that when I stayed home drove me crazy! Maybe you could find another mom sympathizes and can help out?
praying for you,
Amy
Thanks for all your prayers and suggestions, you guys.
I really appreciate it.
Amy, I think that our newly merged congregation used to do the swapping kids thing a lot. I bet if I can just hang in there for awhile, we will start doing that now that Grace has gone to the between services sunday school.
And yes, I bet it is harder to be patient when one is home with them all week! LOL.
Kel, the children's chapel is a great idea, too. We have 4 (count'em) priests at the moment. It would be SO cool if once a month or so they kept the kids and did a kids service, complete with the eucharist and everything. The kids would learn about the liturgy on their own terms and we would get a precious day of downtime with the Big Guy.
Hmm. I think I will bring this up to the rector!
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