Today was no ordinary Sunday. I pushed Jason out of bed at 5:30am so he wouldn't miss his 7:00am flight to New York and I was flying solo at Mass. Jericho has been in a weird sleep pattern the last week or so, allowing us all to sleep in, but then forgoing a morning nap which makes for a long stretch before afternoon nap. The girls and I didn’t stir till around 9:30am so clearly we would be going to 11am mass and not 9, I knew this would be a sticky time because of its proximity to lunch time and Jericho's new schedule, but 7pm mass was certainly out. We made it to mass 5 minutes EARLY and scored great seats; first row in the top balcony, perfect for little eyes to see what's going on. The girls are usually pretty good in mass, but no matter how well-behaved your kids usually are there is always something daunting (at least for me) about being outnumbered in a setting where you have to keep both kids quiet and still for more than 10 minutes. We were going strong, just returned to our seats after the Eucharist when Jericho was getting fussy and needed a distractions so I took her shoes off (she is still getting used to the idea of wearing shoes and was pulling at them). Jericho was happily playing with her shoe when Blythe grabbed one out of her hand and launched it over the balcony railing. Fortunately or unfortunately I did not see where it landed or how many people it hit on the head, but when I peered over the balcony I saw a young college student holding up the shoe, looking back, and grinning from ear to ear like he had just caught a grand slam in the World Series. As if it wasn't already hard enough to keep my laughter under wraps and keep my stern, ‘that was VERY naughty, and I am not happy with you face' on, this did not help. Blythe's face looked equally confused as she had a half smile, half 'uh-oh I'm gonna pay for that' look on her face. So here I am bouncing Jericho, trying to keep her calm, disciplining Blythe, and mouthing my sincerest apology to the college student who is proudly holding up the shoe. The best I could come up with on the spot was for Blythe to collect the shoe after mass, apologies to the unfortunate victims of the flying shoe, and she didn't get to play on the ramp (which is the highlight of Sundays for her).
Sometimes in these moments you just have to laugh, even if it’s to yourself, because lets face it there is something funny about a random baby shoe being launched over a balcony wall, and being caught like a prized baseball in a grand stadium. The shoe launch was no great fire or earthquake like the readings, but I think God was still telling us something; expressing his sense of humor.
Happy Sunday Everyone, Have a Great Week!
Clearly we are destined for climbers!
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