Stop Singing!

Taking my almost three year old, jack and his almost one year old sister, Molly, to church, always feels like a battle. At the end of three hours, Mike and I are usually exhausted. We are trying to train them how to behave in God's presence, and how to worship, but it is an uphill battle. I know God understands, and I hope he has a great sense of humor. Jack is the typical three year old, and his favorite games to play are pushing boundaries. One game he plays is when he asks me to sing a song, then yells to stop singing, then asks me to sing a song, and then yells, stop singing! He is just learning his limits, and when you add this with burdgoning communication skills, havoc can ensue! This morning, jack told me, I no go to church, momma. I said, we'll get pink doughnuts. (I am definitely not above bribing my kids. Whatever works! As you can see in this case, bribery didn't work.) He said, yes, I get pink doughnuts, but no church! We finally got out the door, and he went to class and after a little while had to come into my class where I teach cradle roll. We sat down, and he began asking for the ladder to come down from the ceiling, where his favorite super hero, sporticus, lives in his airplane. I promptly explained that while anyone was talking to God at the podium, we do not talk to show respect. No talking while others are talking up front. Seems simple enough, right? WRONG. Nothing in life is simple. The couple who were visiting behind me whispered something to each other. Jack looked at them and said, SHHH! no talking! Wow, he is a quick learner. I was totally embarrassed. I quickly told him that we don't correct people we don't know. That is a little bit of a difficult concept if you're not quite three. Then, a young girl with a beautiful voice got up to sing. Jack yelled,
STOP!
I tried to shh, him, but not before he got another STOP out. All of this while trying to wrangle Molly and keep her occupied and quiet. If God has a sense of humor, I know he was laughing at that one!