Truman's first day of Sunday School

Today was Truman's first 'school-type experience' and I'm so proud of how he handled it, that I want to blog to remember.

Obviously, T goes to daycare three days per week but besides that he really hasn't done activities without mom or dad present. Even all of his babysitters have been family or close friends, so I was worried that he would be really scared to attend Sunday School alone.

We got the letter in the mail saying that three year old Sunday School started this Sunday and his teachers would be ready to welcome Truman in room 103. Miss Heather and Miss Kristin are their names and it would be one hour between church services, from 9:45-10:45. As I read the letter I felt very strongly about trying Sunday School right from the start. Prior to age three the kids can attend the nursery both during the service and in between services while parents go to adult Bible study. But I'll admit that we have been majorly slacking in going to church ever since Cecelia was born.

In the handful of times we've tried to wrangle two kids in the pews, we always leave feeling like we didn't absorb any of the message and instead had to focus on occupying the kids the entire time. Sometimes failing miserably. Multiple trips to the hallway, water fountains, etc were always had. We've also tried using the church nursery both for Truman by himself and for Cecelia along with her brother. One of those attempts comes to mind and it includes walking down to the nursery at the end of church to see BOTH of my children wailing at the top of their lungs, being rocked by two nursery workers, while all of the other kids played quietly. Ugh. The staff said that Truman had just started to cry a few minutes ago, and when Cecelia saw him crying she lost it herself. They are supposed to page parents if there is a royal freak out but I guess they just waited since church was almost over anyway. Fun times for all. That was a few months ago, though, and it might be different going forward.

Because today we kept both kids in 'big church' with us. But I came armed with two goodie bags filled to the brim with dollar store junk and snacks.










Truman was totally into his little cheapy cars and some of the stickers but Cecelia could really care less. She just wanted graham crackers and to yell at inappropriate times, prompting me to be outside of the sanctuary more than I was inside of it. Truman also wandered around with me a bit in search of water fountains, and eventually I took him down to see where his Sunday School room would be. There was still about thirty minutes to go before SS actually started, since the service was still going on upstairs. I thought the 3 year old door was freaking adorable with each name written out, and inside there were little tables and chair with markers and books.



Truman immediately said, 'There are no toys in that room.' Uh-oh. I told him that Sunday School is more like preschool in that he wouldn't be playing with toys the entire time. He was a little skeptical at that point and requested to play in the nursery with all of the toys until SS started. So I left him in there and went back up to church for a bit. He did great and told me that next time he would play in that room the entire time during 'big church'. Sweet. I think Cecelia could do it, too. She found a few of the girliest toys in the room and was in heaven so I bet I could sneak out next time and leave them for that hour during church.





Then it was time for Sunday School, so I took Truman next door while C played in the nursery with Nate. T was pretty quiet and standing extremely close to me, but his teachers introduced themselves and he lit up with a big grin for them. They told him about all of the fun activities they would do today, but had to get back to the doors because it was getting pretty chaotic with new kids entering.

I brought him over to a table where the other kids were coloring and he asked two of the girls, 'What's your name?' Neither responded which made me a little sad for Truman, but I kept talking to him and tried to pump him up for the class. I asked the girls their names and they didn't respond to me either, so I guess they really didn't feel like talking (and were probably just as nervous as Truman!) Then I said, 'Okay, buddy. I'm going to go now and you can tell me all about it when I come back in a little bit.' I gave him a kiss and walked out the door. It was incredibly difficult for me to resist the urge to look back and him numerous times to make sure he wasn't upset, but somehow we made it out of there in one piece. Nate and Cecelia and I all walked to the car and Nate asked, 'So will they call you if it's a total disaster?' I wanted to turn right back around in that moment, scoop him up, and tell the teachers we'd try some other day. But I knew we had to go for it and that this was a great experience for him.

After all, I have so many fun memories of my days in Sunday School. I want Truman to be involved at church, to learn about God and Jesus outside of what we can teach him in our home, and I want him to see that we spend some of our precious weekend time at church. It's hard to stay motivated to go and it's not easy to juggle the kids in the service or worry about them in the nursery. But I want to put forth the effort again, even if it's just the 'every other week' routine we used to do when it was just Truman. Going to church makes me feel more centered and focused, like I'm showing God (and myself) that I'm incredibly grateful for this awesome life. Giving my time back to God for one hour in a week isn't too much to ask. Even if it's hectic and busy and there are a million other things we could be doing away from church---I want to *try* to go more often. Because sacrificing part of our weekend is the least we can do to say 'Thanks, God. We're pretty blessed.' I do believe people can worship and give thanks outside of church walls, too, for sure. But for me it helps to compartmentalize that gratitude into 'church time'. Even if I admit I never hear the message when our kids are with us in the pews. So yeah, nursery next time;)

We have the choice of doing an adult Bible study class during that hour of Sunday School, in which case we'd put Cecelia back into the nursery. But today the three of us went back home, meal planned, and then Nate took CC grocery shopping and I went back to church to get Truman. That hour was the fastest hour of the day, man!

I got there and lined up in the hall with the other parents. Miss Kristin saw me and asked me to remind her which kid was mine. When I said, 'Truman,' she said 'Oh, Truman! He was such a brave little soldier today.' I made eye contact with him and he looked like he was enjoying himself with his juice box and graham cracker, and gave me a huge smile and waved. This boy has my heart in a way I cannot describe. Kristin continued to say that Truman got a little nervous and fought back a tear successfully and was 'so brave.' Then she told Truman to come on over and handed him his paper project of stickers they must have done in class. I thanked her and hugged my boy, telling him I was SO proud of him. First he asked where Nate was, and then he said, 'We are leaving already?' Whew. Big exhale.

We walked over to the neighboring school's playground to play a bit, since Nate and CC were shopping anyway. He was pretty talkative and told me that 'I tried the juice and I liked it!' and 'there was a little girl who cried because she didn't want to be left alone. But I didn't cry, mommy. I'm really brave.' OMG. I can't. He also told me they sang a song called 'God loves yoooouuuuuuu' and they read him a story from a book, but he didn't remember what it was about. Truman was very adamant that I take care of my two papers he had given me and he said, 'I really liked my teachers.' I asked if he wanted to go back sometime and he said, 'Yeah!' He couldn't tell me much about the other kids in the class aside from the girl who was sad, but later he said, 'Sunday School was awesome.'

I let him play on the playground for some time and got some cute pictures of my boy who suddenly looks about five years old. When we got back home he proudly told Nate and then Tony about his day at church. 'Miss Heather has some light brown hair and some of it is pink. I like her.' And now that I think about it, I do think her hair had some pink streaks. My Truman and his love for older women.









I'm so glad it went well today. Now naps and Packers---can't go wrong;)