My beloved Ainsley . . . She has a stubborn streak about her. I have no idea where she gets it from. It must be Chris. But I digress . . . Ainlsey is also a very loving child who likes to cuddle in your lap and let you hug her while she tells you how much she loves you. Yes. It is very endearing.
On Sunday mornings at church it is very difficult for me to love and hug on all three children. For the most part, church is not very stimulating for them (Sorry, Dad!). They like the music and the children’s sermon but sitting for that long is veeeerrrrry hard for them to do. Even Madie struggles on some Sundays. So they all like to sit next to me and be loved on with hugs, love, attention, more hugs, more love, more attention. See the pattern. It drives me nuts by the middle of the service. I am generally ready to reclaim myself for myself by that point. Papas and Grandmas live too far away to join us on Sunday mornings (and trust me this is a Papa/Grandma job) to help pass the love and give away lap time to the kids. But this church is blessed with many Grandma/Papa kind of people. The kids do have a few that they gravitate too on most Sundays. For several Sundays in a row, Ainsley’s go-to person was absent or at least not available to sit with. Finally on the first Sunday that she was back, Ainsley really wanted to sit with her. Unfortunately, she was sitting across the sanctuary. Not close but in Ainsley’s direct line of sight. Bad. Ainlsey begged. She threw herself to the floor. She made it abundantly clear where she wanted to go. I, of course, being the good mother was terrified of having her daughter make a scene at church. Which is worse? The begging and crying or the walk quickly across the room in the middle of service. What to do? What to do?
I finally concede (and I promise myself to tell my mother sorry later for disrupting church because I just know that she knows. Mothers always do.) and tell her that after communion I will let her go over to sit with her absentee-but-is-now-available “Go-To” person/friend (I was actually envisioning Ainsley reinacting the scene from “Gone with the Wind” where Melanie runs into long-lost Ashley’s arms. It was that dramatic of a moment). So as soon as it was time to go over . . .
another child goes to sit with Ainsley’s friend.
The color drained from Ainsley’s face. She throws her dolly to the floor and dramatically follows soon after. She is devastated. Devastated! Ainsley knows that it is over and she is stuck with her mom for yet another Sunday and not her friend who will devote a neverending supply of hugs and love and who she will not have to share with anyone. Ainsley quietly picks herself up from the floor. Climbs onto the pew next to me and announces, “I am NEVER passing the peace with her again!” Wow. Talk about harsh. Ainsley shot looks across the room at that little boy that could have sliced him apart if she had any superpowers. It was bad. I wasn’t sure who she was more mad at her friend or the little boy.
Since that day . . . she has forgiven both. (Not that there is anything to forgive.) I love that little toot. She may be a pistol sometimes, but those hugs and kisses make up for it every time.
Read Full Post »
