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| Sleep? More? Yo Ma- are you crazy? |
Instead, yesterday turned out to be: THE LONGEST DAY OF MY LIFE. We got up at 6 (because it felt like 7! Looked like 7! Must be 7!), scrambled to get to a new church in Hopkinsville, got confused by our own wrong clocks, but finally made it to mass (and only 5 minutes late!). I didn't really HEAR anything that went on during mass because I was The Cheerio Machine and Page Turner for Sam and that only kept him occupied for so long. On the flip side, Steve couldn't SEE anything because he left his glasses in the car and wore his prescription sunglasses to church. So. I'm not sure who got the short end of that stick.
Eventually Sam had had enough of sitting on my lap and I had had enough of trying to entertain him and keep up with what was going on around me. So we set out to find the childcare. Yes! Childcare! I will not lie and say that that did not influence our decision to drive to Hoptown for mass. IT TOTALLY DID.
Unfortunately, the childcare must have been housed in another building and since it was our first time at this church, I didn't think setting out to find it was such a hot idea. We will get there earlier next time, and we WILL find it, goshdarnit.
I ran into another mom in the foyer who had also given up on the dream of absorbing anything from the mass and asked about the childcare. She said she didn't know anything about it (probably just a rumor they started to up attendance! Gah!) but they had a "special little room" for the crying babies. My jaw almost hit the floor. You mean, an honest-to-God CRY ROOM? I couldn't believe it. But once I stepped inside, I was a believer.
Actually, it was more like a VIP lounge than a typical cry room, but we did have a pretty great view of the altar, could hear everything that was going on, and a private bathroom to boot! I felt like the clouds were going to part and the angels would descend upon me at any minute. But then mass ended and we had to find Steve in the flood of people.
While I don't think it's the perfect church for us, it is definitely a step up from where we've been going. (Did I mention the CRY ROOM????) We need to accept that we will never find a church as amazing as the one we attended in Auburn, and realize that this is perfect for us NOW.
But seriously, Catholic Churches In Our Area (and all around the world)??? You cannot condemn birth control AND refuse to build cry rooms into your churches. YOU JUST CAN'T. Build the cry rooms and we will come.
<stepping off of soap box>
The longest day of my life FINALLY ended though. And another began at oh-dark-thirty this morning! Said bye to the hubs for another week in the field because the training around here? Is ENDLESS.
We'll see if this week doesn't give The Longest Day Of My Life a run for its money.
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| I'm tired just thinking about it! |
I'm actually anti-cry room. It seems to just encourage children to behave like, well, children, while actually attending Mass, out with the real people, encourages them to behave like... real people. ;-) Also, cry rooms allow the other parishioners to give you dirty looks when your kid is noisy. Kids are noisy! We try to shush them, and most of the time it works, but there will be an occasional outburst and a pro-life, pro-family church is just going to have to get used to that. In my opinion. :-)
ReplyDeleteChildren give us exactly what we expect them to. If we expect them to misbehave, they will. If we expect to act like decent human beings, they will.
We also sit right up front at Mass, second pew, so that the children can see everything going on at the alter. It makes a world of difference in their behavior.
@Jennie C.
ReplyDeleteJennie,
I agree to an extent. Young children should be expected (and taught) to behave at Mass and pay attention to what's going on. But with the little babies, no matter what, they are not interested in someone that is standing still and talking at them. I hate to sound lazy, but sometimes it is easier, and less of a hassle for us, to say a rosary at home than to attend mass (or attend mass separately, which I personally hate). There seems to be less pressure in the cry room to stand up and sway with a baby, whereas, if you stood up randomly in your pew, you might get a few evil eyes.. ;)
I can see both sides, for sure, but definitely feel more comfortable (especially in a new church where I don't know anyone) having access to a cry room so I can still "participate" in Mass while not disturbing those around me.