Welcome to the Circus

I feel like a 3-ring circus when I take the children to church without Steve's help (which is always).  Today we were running late, so we made it into our seats just a minute or two before the meeting began.  As I was settling the two kids, the woman behind me, who I'd never seen before asked, "Are you [MBC]?"  and I had to answer, "I am, but I need just a minute because I just realized that I've left my bag in a puddle in the parking lot."  We had a major thaw and then rain for an entire day and now everything's wet and flooding (but no ice!), and when I set Ellen in her carrier and the bags on the ground to get The Bairn out of the car, I only brought one bag with me and we have two. So the important bag, the one with snacks and a sling and books for The Bairn, was still sitting next to our car in the wet.  I asked someone in the row ahead of us to go fetch it, but I gave poor instructions on where to find it so he came back empty-handed and I had to go get it myself, after handing Ellen off to someone, during a hymn, so that Ellen's baby doll wouldn't come back to us completely soaked.  Also, because the only thing I could find to amuse The Bairn in our OTHER bag was a Popsicle stick with his name on it that one of the Primary children made for him and after he sent that down the vent and then begged me to get back (impossible!), he spent most of his time making escape attempts while I nursed Ellen, making it impossible for me to police him.  He only made it back two rows before someone caught him.  And then some kind soul came and sat by us to help manage the circus.

The best Sundays are when my friend Linda and her granddaughter Taylor sit by us.  Taylor is 11 and The Bairn loves her, because she reads him stories about puppies during church and because once she came to our house and pushed him around on his ride-on car.  He likes to sit next to her and fold his arms and call out to everyone around us, "[Bairn] reverent like Taylor."

My favorite part of Sunday is after we come home.  When The Bairn wakes up from his nap, I take Ellen upstairs and all three of us snuggle in the glider.  Sometimes The Bairn falls back asleep and we all have a nap together or sometimes, like today, Ellen sleeps and The Bairn and I read stories until Steve comes home and I'm grateful for two little soft babies even if my Sabbaths are no longer restful.