Ever have one of those days where you wake up, get going for the day, thinking today is just going to be a great day?
And then, you wake your children up…
That was us this morning.
(This picture was taken before the children were really up and running. It was cold here this morning – the dogs’ water had frozen outside overnight; but, I was nice and bundled up, and thought I was rocking My Sunday Best!)
My son didn’t want to get up this morning. He made his displeasure known as soon as he (literally) rolled out of bed onto his feet – I dare say he rolled out of the wrong side of the bed.
He was angry about having missed an opportunity to shower, he was angry he had to change his shirt, he was angry because I didn’t bring his shoes upstairs to him right away. He was just angry.
Little Miss was slightly better – at least she managed one smile before we headed to church.
Once in the chapel, we slid into our pew to the remarks of my son, who was displeased that his fingers were cold. He was then displeased the sun was shining through the cracks of the curtain – right into his eyes. He was displeased the music was playing. You get the idea…
Little Miss wanted to run away for most of Mass. She had seen people walking down the hallway right near our pew, but wasn’t allowed to go off on her own. The damage was done…
Little Miss was taken out of Mass by my husband toward the end of Mass. Our son wanted to follow. I informed him he could not, since church was almost over.
Cue anger.
Cue rage.
Cut to mom taking the angrily-getting-louder preschooler out of the chapel.
The end result?
Carrying my son, under my arm, out of the chapel entirely, to stop him from interrupting the entire end of Mass. He howled. I saw a handful of older parents smiling as we walked out, which was so very reassuring to me.
How was it reassurance?
Because it let me know – they have been there, done that, and survived to tell the tales. Knowing several of them, I know their now-adult children are practicing the Faith, and living good, adult Christian lives.
So, today’s struggles…
…will be but a memory…
…someday.
Someday, I hope to pass on words of encouragement to another mother, faced with their children’s antics. I hope to encourage them to embrace their children’s strong-wills, even in the thick of things.
Because, my prayer remains that these “battles” are preparing my children to lead a life with confidence, leadership, and their hearts turned toward God.
I’m linking up with A Blog for My Mom, contributing to her My Sunday Best series. Check out her link, and the link of several other bloggers, as we continue to encourage other families on the road of “Taking Your Kid/s to Church,” while rocking your Sunday Best!
Ah, the Mass howl. How nice that the older parents let you know that they survived such antics. 🙂
PS– Your hair! It’s Rapunzel-y! Usually we can’t see because it’s up. 🙂
Thank you! It’s one of the last times it will be seen down – it was too wavy and unruly with my veil, so I suspect it will be worn up from now on! But, it helped keep my neck warm today.
It is definitely nice to know when others have walked the path I am traveling… otherwise, it would be so tempting to just “give up”…
Someday probably seems like a million years from now. And all moms DO understand. Our priest was telling a long, convoluted tale, and just as he reached the “punchline” Dani yelled “NO!” at the top of her lungs. I guess she wanted more detail and a longer story. I’ve been waiting for someday for about 43 years of raising kids! I wonder what it will look like!!
Ha!
Such cute antics in spite of the frustration! ILY
Thank you. 😊
i love that kid. also, your HAIR is DOWN!!!! <3 LOVE!!! <3
Only for today. It was a rarity. Major rarity. My veil (my grandmother’s veil) wouldn’t stay put with my hair down – it was all way too much. And, the baby kept getting it wrapped up in her fingers – the funniest is when it got stuck in her mouth…! 😂
Sometimes everything is JUST SO BAD! And it’s impossible to turn things around when you’re at Mass and can’t exactly be flexible… One of my favorite Mass memories is walking out during the homily with a child under each arm while the toddler sobbed and the 3yo howled, “I WANT TO BE GOOD!!!” I’ve definitely made it my goal to throw encouraging looks at moms in the same situation as much as possible!
Oh, goodness! Ahhh – these memories we are making… We had very close to “I will be good” howled yesterday.
Kids! 😂🤣😂
You have such a good attitude about this – I wish I were more like you!
I am trying to have a good attitude about this – in the moment, it was mortifying! 😂