27 Days of Thankfulness, Day 13

I am grateful that we took family pictures LAST weekend, not this upcoming weekend.

Last night, Brennan, Jackson and I attended our ward's gingerbread house activity. Our stake had a HUGE gingerbread exhibit each year at the Mormon Trail Center and last night the kids got to decorate their own houses! Thanks Rebecca for organizing this event. Despite what I am about to say, the boys and I had a lot of fun and look forward to the same thing next year.

Everything was going well. I had (for the most part) kept my children under wraps and out of the mischief of the pack of wild dogs running through the gym excited children prancing around. Now, my boys were NOT perfect, I did find them on the stage at one point for a moment and they did run for a bit here and there. But, overall, they were well behaved kids, chilling with the Alexander's and gluing candy to cookie. However, it is VERY hard for my boys to sit in their seats and do as they are told when they see other children having a blast running around and having a good old time.

At one point, I went to wash my hands. Helping with gingerbread houses gets pretty sticky. (Thanks Diana for your help w/ Jack's...you two were too cute) When I came back, I found Jackson on the floor, sobbing, and an adult standing near him. "Well", I think, "this is Jackson, he gets hurt from time to time."

Come to find out, Jackson had left his chair (probably being naughty to go run around, as he had been instructed NOT to do) and somehow managed to get the side of his face smacked with the middle edge of the accordion folding door/wall. Now, you LDS know what I am talking about, the wall that divides the gym from the chapel. Yep. Apparently someone (maybe a male kid, not really sure) was closing the divider (?) and Jackson was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I do not know the full story...I mean, a 3 and 6 year old are hard to figure out and once we got home I tried to get the story out of them, but I do believe that if the other children had been chilling at their tables and not running freely that A) it would have been easier to contain my children and B) Jackson *might* not have gotten smacked in the face. (Of course, once again, this is Jackson and it was time for him to get a "boo-boo"...this was not even a bad bo-bo, either, it's just the straw that broke the camel's back, so to say)

I know I once ranted on about my ward, and I did something about it. I raised my voice and made sure that our Christmas dinner was different and that we did not run out of food (unlike the year before). I have not, however, really raised my voice about the behavior of children at church outside of Sunday worship services.

When I was the primary president, I discovered that the behavior of the children on Sunday during services and during the week, at an event, etc. is very different. On Sunday, they are reverent children, respectful, etc. Any other time...not so much. As a matter of fact, the behavior of the children at Benson Ward has caused some older people to avoid attending functions where children are allowed.

Preparing for last year's Christmas dinner/party, I preached over and over again the etiquette of attending a church function...do not run around, don't play on the stage, be respectful, etc, etc. I made sure there were crayons and papers for the children to have something to do. And, I feel that the event was pretty good. The kids weren't too rowdy or anything, unlike at that years Trunk Or Treat (which I was in charge of) where my non LDS friend came and was scared to allow her three year old to sit on the ground not five feet from her chair. I seriously doubt Dawne will make the drive to attend any more of our church functions. It was not a relaxing evening with the extremely high level of excitement and lack of parental units bringing that level down.

Now, Jackson's smack on the face...it was not a huge thing. He gets hurt all the time so that is nothing new. It's just really frustrating to me that the adults in attendance last night felt that it was okay for their children to run around almost the entire time. Sure, the room is called a gym, but as I tried to teach (and obviously failed at!) the children is that it is also referred to as a CULTURAL HALL, and when that is the case, when we are not playing basketball or other games, our behavior at the church and in that room should be just as reverent as on Sunday.

Sure, the kids were done with their gingerbread houses. Sure, they were bored. Then the parents should have figured out a way to keep them under wraps. The children were presented with an activity, they did it, they go home. That is what we did.

I hope this post doesn't piss too many people off, and that they can forgive me if it does, but I am sick and tired of keeping my frustration at the behavior of the children at non-Sunday events quiet. I almost don't want to attend the Christmas Event this year...which is a shame because in Louisiana, it was one of my most favorite activities of the year. It's a shame that I, Miss I-go-to-church-and-all-its-events-whether-I-want-to-or-not, is hoping a child of mine gets sick or I have an important meeting I can't miss or something come up so I can avoid the stress of trying to contain my children while others are allowed to roam free. So, if this posts angers a few Benson Ward members, maybe you will see that I am not doing it out of hate, just tiredness. I am tired of being told to pray for how I can benefit Benson Ward when right now, I don't feel like it is benefiting me. This just happens to be the tip of an iceberg of frustrations, but I do not feel it is proper to go into the rest here.

Know this. I love my church, I am grateful we have a prophet, Thomas Monson, on the earth today to guide us in these last days. I am thankful my parents raised me to be the kind of Miss I-go-to-church-and-all-its-events-whether-I-want-to-or-not so that my testimony can grow. I am grateful we have a temple in Omaha to attend and learn and grow. I would encourage anyone with questions to find out more about the church (and double check which ward you are supposed to go to, don't just take the word of a stranger over the phone...those of you who know my address, go see which ward it says we should be attending)...don't be put off about my rant about a few kids. They really are good kids, they just get wild and crazy when not properly contained :) I am sure this is not the way it is at all non-Sunday events at all LDS locations globally. So, without further ado, here is a super bad video of me recording Brennan's gingerbread house that ends with a shot of Jack's face. It's better today (and looked worse then the video makes it out to be last night), thanks to an ice pack and some cuddles...it had the potential to become very green, purple, and ugly, though...so, I am thankful that our family pictures were last weekend, while Jackson was facial injury free.

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