Since it's summerish there are fewer people attending currently. The last few times we've gone Delia has been the only little kid there, so I haven't taken her to the nursery because she does better when there are other kids to stare at than if it's just her and the babysitter. So she sits with me in a back pew and plays with crayons, coloring books, and books that they have in a basket in the foyer for just this purpose.
Today at some point during the sermon she plowed through all the books I'd gotten for her out of the basket and then ran to the doors and started tugging on them. I asked her, in a stage whisper, what she was doing, and she told me very clearly (and loudly), "I want more books!" Everyone tittered. She's like their mascot.
This is an improvement over the last time I took her when she dropped something on the floor, probably a crayon, and said very loudly, "Aw, maaaaaaaan," over and over again. It didn't help that the people sitting next to me found this very amusing and were unsuccessful in hiding their laughter behind their programs. Delia doesn't miss a thing and continued saying it so they would keep laughing. I told them how I'd said it one time when I dropped or broke something or some other thing like that and that she'd picked it up and had been saying it ever since. I guess I could have said something worse...
Still, I am told that the congregation at large does not mind if she makes a little noise or wanders around the sanctuary while the service is taking place. I think that it had been a while since there had been an infant or toddler in the church regularly, and everyone seems to think she's cute. Well, I mean why would they not? So I'll let her wander free and speak her mind, up to a point. At least I'm not bringing my dog to church...
Okay, I'm going to be catty for a moment. There are two people at the church who bug me.
One of them is this "artistic" type who makes collages and banners and the like to hang in the church and then talks about them at length during the announcements or puts up an "artist's statement" as if it's a gallery.
First of all, and try not to hate me if you're a collage-lover, I think collage is kind of dippy. I think it's useful in a therapeutic way, or to keep people busy in art classes or whatever, but it's pretty lowbrow as far as actual art goes and, like so many things such as nose-picking or putting on pantyhose, is best done where no one can see you.
Secondly, this is not a gallery and it's not about you. So shut up.
Okay, the other one is this perpetually unemployed, overwhelmed single mother of a really annoying 11 year old girl. I feel for her, really I do, but do unemployed overwhelmed people really need to go out and obtain (through what means I do not know) a chihuahua puppy and a gazillion accessories such as collars, leashes, little outfits, and a handbag style carrier a la Paris Hilton? Furthermore, is it necessary to bring this poor little creature with you to church?
This differs from the woman who brought her Labrador occasionally in the past -- he was very much the beloved survivor, I mean, he was three-legged and super mellow and had beaten cancer once. Sadly he did not beat it the second time. But still, he had been a therapy dog and so forth, and everybody had gotten to know him at church camp and so on over the years. He wasn't just somebody's arm candy. Honestly, I'd feel stupid as hell carrying a little dog in a handbag around to the supermarket or the DMV or whatever.
Okay, your reward for listening to me bitch is a very recent (this morning) photo of Delia in this dress she got for her birthday. She is also sporting the little kerchief that came with it, which she will wear around the house when she is not wearing the dress but for some reason will not under any circumstances wear with the dress. It came off moments after this was taken and any attempt to put it back on her met with the toddler version of "Go to hell!"
She's also got a new sippy cup with a soft silicone straw that pops out and has a one-way valve in it so it does not leak. Friends, I am so glad to be living on this earth in the current age just because of this kind of thing. Better living through leakproof sippy cups... If they made one that didn't look like it was for a toddler I'd take it to the gym, it beats a sports bottle all to hell. (Maybe they do, I should look into this.)
Anyway, enjoy:
3 comments:
I printed off a picture of your cutie and put her up on my cubicle wall. Everyone in the office thinks she is just adorable!! But they wondered what was on her arm I said I think it looked like a Dora the Explorer tattoo.
Good eye! She got a packet of them for her birthday from Uncle Craig and Aunt Lisa and the boys.
I think she looks kind of "Heidi of the Swiss Alps" in that dress. :)
Very cute picture of Delia. I think my son drank from sippy cup until he was 6. They sure look convenient. I wish I could get away with one.
My parish just built a new church and deliberately left out the crying room. Kids are part of the church too.
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