As the girls are quickly (too quickly!) approaching their third birthday, Keith and I have been feeling the need to move them out of the nursery into big church. We actually tried this last winter in an effort to avoid them catching EVERY cold being passed around Ft. Campbell, but to put it mildly, they just weren’t ready.
We decided that today would be a perfect Sunday to give it a go again. We knew attendance at chapel would probably be low since there is a block leave and a lot of people are traveling.
During breakfast I asked EA and MC if they would like to go to BIG CHURCH with Mommy and Daddy today. Of course, they answered with a very enthusiastic “Yes!” and talked of nothing else all morning. I began talking them about how we would be singing and praying in church and they would need to sit quietly during the sermon.
I am happy to announce that the girls were absolutely perfect during the chapel service!!! I really could not have asked for them to be any better behaved than they were.
During the children’s sermon, CH Scheib put lotion on the hands of all the little ones up front. The sermon was on the woman who kissed and anointed Jesus’ feet. This made me a bit nervous because Elizabeth Anne can be quite freaked out by things on her hands. REALLY….one of the reasons she HATES HER BATH is because she gets water on her! I could just see her crying out “MOMMY, MY HANDS, MY HANDS!!! ME NO LIKE LOTION!” But she didn’t utter a word of protest.
They stood up to sing at every opportunity but did not complain when they had to sit back down and be quiet. Keith held Elizabeth Anne and let her have her paci (this helped to keep her content) during the sermon. Mary Catherine kept herself occupied by coloring the children’s bulletin and playing with the crayons.
Another nervous moment came when it was time for communion. I was afraid they wouldn’t understand why they couldn’t have crackers and juice along with Mommy and Daddy, but they didn’t say anything about that. Mary Catherine just asked, “What’s that”…a question we hear A LOT around here. Did I mention that I had Will with us too?? (His seperation anxiety and/or attatchment to mommy is a bit much to leave him hysterically crying in the nursery.) Anyway, it was a bit hairy juggling an active baby and two toddlers while taking the elements, but we managed quite well.
When we came home EA and MC were quite excited to talk about their adventure in big church. One of the first things Elizabeth Anne said was “I sat on the couch” (the pew). They spent the afternoon playing church and demonstrating how they sang songs and prayed.
Pat says
What a great milestone! I remember my mother always telling us that our children would not learn how to act appropriately if we didn’t give our children opportunities to learn. I’m glad for your sake, the first time turned out so well!
Chrisitn says
Those pictures of them ‘playing church’ are priceless. Those last two look like the kind of pics that you should sepia and frame.