But only just.
It’s “Open Comment” Sunday and I have nothing to share at present, other than Mass was far more “Passion Sunday” this morning than it was “Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Tell me: did your 2-year-old require multiple removals from the pew this morning? Did she poke the back of the neighboring parishioners’ heads with her palm? Did she make a stack of every single missalette and hymnal on your lap and then sit on top of them, like a throne?
Or how about this: did she try on her big sister’s parka and start shrieking, “I’m a bear!”
I didn’t think so.
Well, consequently my blogging well has run dry. The Caribou mocha I got on the way home from Mass is helping…somewhat. I’m going to go away now, but I’ll be back when my ability to think more clearly—that is to say, at all—has returned.
Holy Week is here. I feel it.
My two year old began screaming as soon as we got into the church. I took him out, and in, and out, and then in and finally out one last time. I was on my own and we lasted a grand total of 11 minutes. I’m a little relieved it wasn’t just me. 🙂
My 3 year old misbehaved. We went out once. It was a fidgety, distracting Mass. Dh was gone and it was tough. Welcome to Holy Week, right?
I didn’t even take the little ones, and still had a hard time! Daddy was sick so he stayed home with the babies (9mo and 2yrs) and I took the 4,7,8 and picked up a stray 8 yo boy for the 2 hour Latin Mass.
My 4 year old was so tired during the singing of the Gospel that she stared at a bug creeping up the wall.
“Is it over, yet?” was heard many, many times from our pew this morning.
Yes, yes, yes!!! Finally my husband took our 2 year old out and in the cry room, she spit, (several times)tried to run around, and yell and much more. He took her out of the cry room 3 times, he said, and then left before the last song was over!! We decided on the way home, we are going to have to split up Mass for a while. I hate doing that, I want her there…Meanwhile, I was in the pew with our 10 mos (today she is 10 mos) who is getting louder as she gets older! I tried to nurse her 3 times, but she can’t miss anything and….well, it just doesn’t work that well. She finally did nurse at the very end, after Communion, and we sat there after Mass untill she was done, and sound asleep! My 7 year old said in his loudest, crabbiest whisper “I don’t know when to stand and sit, I just want to sit!” My 4 year old, was a perfect angel and only wanted to sit on mama’s lap, which was occupied almost the entire time!
Can you tell, we drove to Fargo to visit a friend yesterday? We are paying for it today with tired, crabby kids. (except for some reason the 4 year old, who will get some extra attention this afternoon!) 🙂 (it’s a 2 1/2 hour trip one way)
I will have to show your post to my dh, he thinks there is something wrong with our 2 year old! I do always smile and say, it will pass, it is just a stage, by the time she is 3, she will be better…at least the others were.
I told my husband that God blessed him extra today for being there with her, as He blessed all of you with those little stinkers!
My 4 yo son kept sighing loudly and exclaiming that “This is sooooo long and boring!!” He kept poking my 1 1/2 yo which made her scream. So I had to leave twice. Thankfully my other 3 girls were quiet and good. Boys are a creature all their own.
I’ve been enjoying your blog! Real holiness!!
LOL!
I spent the whole mass chasing Catherine around and trying to hush Eileen (who was hysterical because she wanted to chew on the palm).
Catherine was giving me a real run for my money!
Nice to know we spent our mornings “together” at least in spirit. Now if only I’d had a Caribou mocha to top it all off!
I love you, Margaret! Not being able to comment here during the week has been horrible! : )
Count me in for a trying Passion Sunday.
Took the 3 kids to mass. For the first half I followed my 2-yr. old from a safe distance (lest she break out into a full gallop down the aisle) around the perimeter as she went from station to station (we have bigger-than-life carved ones) of the Way of the Cross. “Jee-sus.” “Fall.” And she decided to try reaching for the fire alarm.
Then she traisped over to the reconciliation room; my 6 year-old who can’t stand for any of us to be more than 2 feet apart, EVER, followed but couldn’t find me. So she started crying, alarming more than a few parishioners. My dutiful 9 year old remained in the row, b/c after all, who else was going to put our envelope in the collection basket? (much more important than his wailing sister, for sure.)
Then I got tough and made the 2 y/o stay in the row. It was a battle (she’s a strong little wiggleworm) but I’d like to think I won…but I certainly didn’t hear the readings (or anything else) like I would’ve liked.
The rest of the day hasn’t been any less exhausting, but I’ll spare everyone those details.
Yes, Holy Week has most definitely arrived!
What’s in the water today?
My two year old also had the worst church going (so far) of his little life. Normally he does fabulously in Mass and loves to point out Jesus, say the prayers, and sing along.
Today, however, was not the case. Maybe it’s because that palm in his hand beared a strong resemblance to a sword, with which he could repeatedly whack his brothers (at least he kept it in the family). Maybe it was because we were stuck at the back with a crowd of people who apparently were there solely for him to amuse.
Whatever the reason, the little guy is down for a nap now.
Nice to have the camraderie on this one. My three year old wanted to snuggle up on my lap, in my arms, or wherever he could hang on in a rather violent way. Elbows, knees and shoes were EVERYWHERE and he kept asking rather loudly what “those green things” were even after he got the answer numerous times. On the way back from communion he kept asking “Can we go home now?”
My older kids got a lot out of it, though. Before Mass, the car was full of wood from bookshelf projects and several seats needed to be put back in AND the dog hadn’t been let out, so we couldn’t make it to the nearby Marian shrine we had planned on and instead went to the Latin Novus Ordo in the city that the big kids love (fabulous music). My 13 year old told me afterwards that several of the songs made her cry because they were so beautiful.
My 2 and 4 year olds were being mostly good at Mass, but a bit more playing with the palms than I would like. At one point my daughter (the 4 year old) was waving the palm in circles over her head, so I told her to stop because she might hit people with it. Her response was to take the palm out into the aisle and swing it in circles over her head there, where she wasn’t in danger of hitting anyone! I called her back in, and shortly after this a lady I don’t know came and sat in our pew and traded each of my kids’ palms for palms that she had folded into crosses. The kids went for this, which was a relief, since palm crosses are much harder to hit people with than full-length palms. After Mass, during the social thing, I found out from her how she folds them so neatly. Hopefully I’ll remember next year.
My dh and I each took a turn leaving Mass with our one year old. I’m not exactly sure why, but my dh told the kids that next year we’ll be getting palms on the way OUT of Mass. BTW, great passport photo-your big hair is so classic 80’s. Since I’m behind in fashion, my hair looked like that in the 90’s.
My little boys thought the palms made perfect swords too. Baby decided to be Loud and Fussy, fighting like a wildcat until she finally gave in and slept. Someone gave us a bag of Easter things and we let our most irresponsible child (8 yr. old boy) hold it and he forgot it at church. Sigh. But otherwise, not too bad.
I spent most of an absolutely beautiful, three-hour long angelically-chanted Latin Mass outside with “Mad-Dog” Madeleine! Thank heaven the abbey had outdoor speakers. 🙂
You are a brave lot. We usually go to Mass as a Family, but knowing how crowded this week and next will be, my hubby and I split up this week so that we could enjoy next week together. I just didn’t think i could manage two weeks in a row trying to corral the two year old.
My 2.5 yo son is pretty good but he lives for the bells. the mass was long and he wanted to go, but I promised, soon the bells, we’ll go see Jesus then the bells. Then… No bells. They must have turned them off or they were off schedule or something because of the long services. He was so very dissapointed, and next time he won’t believe me.
Here from Danielle Bean’s site, and I just had to say that your Palm Sunday sounded an awful lot like mine. Right down to the palm-wielding 2 year old who had to be escorted out of the pew. My husband says that Mass for us (and all those sitting near us) is a penitential experience! I think that it was a great way to start Holy Week, though, and has given me pause throughout this week to think about carrying the cross. Thanks for the reflection.