Hubby was out of town that Sunday. This obviously meant I was getting the kids ready and taking them to church all by my lonesome. Eh, no biggie, right?
So, I got the kids bathed, with only about half a gallon of water splashed onto the floor. Miracles do happen. The other half ended up on the walls and bathroom door. But at least they were all clean, and so was the bathroom after I made them wipe it all up.
I got them dressed, and for once in the history of our home, no one complained about their church clothes; until I told Joseph he was not allowed to wear his Bob the Builder snow boots to church. That didn't go over too well.
I got them fed, with minimal cereal finding it's way to the floor. Although I couldn't say the same for the crackers the kids snuck into the living room. The enormous pile of crumbs over by the couch totally gave them away.
But, believe it or not, we were at church on time.
Things were going well, surprisingly well. My Alayna sat on my lap, with Jacob and Joseph next to me, and Savannah sat on the end. They were contently coloring and I just thought, Wow! This is going really well!
Oh I was feeling so pleased.
Until about halfway through the meeting....
Alayna, getting quite restless as she always does, had started searching through the diaper bag for anything that would peak her interest.
She happen to find this little toy.
It's just a cheap-o toy that I think the kids got in their Halloween baskets. But here's the thing, when you squeeze the two sides in together, it shoots the little disk out.
Well, I was okay with her playing with it, anything to keep her calm and quiet, and she was happily squeezing the little disk into my hands.
But after a few moments, a small commotion to my right had me turning to see BOTH my boys, fists raised, teeth bared, as they just started laying into each other.
I'm talking, full out punching each other.
Yes, my boys actually got into a fist fight in the middle of Sacrament meeting.
Ah, the reverence.
I turned my attention to them and broke up the fight. Once I was assured they had stopped, I turned back to Alayna, just in time to see her shoot that little disk out several feet away.
I'm seriously starting to question our choice to always sit near the front of the chapel.
When someone picked it up for us and tried to get Alayna to come get it, she freaked out, assuming he was taking it. And the small, limited space where we sat didn't give her much space to throw a good tantrum, so she tripped over the diaper bag and fell backwards.
Can I just say that girl has a very good set of lungs.
It wasn't ten minutes later when I experienced some major de'ja vu.
I was keeping Alayna distracted when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Joseph elbowing Jacob repeatedly and with force.
Seriously? What's with the violence all of a sudden! And in church of all places! Again, turning my attention to them to break up the fight, Alayna managed to get the disk to shoot off yet again, luckily missing any poor, unsuspecting listeners.
At least we had that much going for us.
I can only hope, oh so fervently hope, that someone out there can tell me that boys fist fighting in church is perfectly normal.
'Cause when I dream, I dream big.
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Serene is a mom of four with baby five on the way. She pretends that having her kids close together is super easy, but her secret stash of chocolate would convince you otherwise. She blogs over at Serene is my name, not my life! She is also a freelance artist so be sure to view her Portfolio Page!
