Happy Easter!
Everyone recovered from their chocolate and computer binges yesterday? Good, good. So we had a great Easter. Unless, of course, you count the 3am toddler clean-up baths several nights running, one sensitive stomach, and 2 kids with diarrhea on Easter day. And then I had plans to do some fun shopping today, waking up instead to a hyper-cranky feverish needy toddler who has spent most of the day physically attached to me. So, lots of lap time today. Perfect for blogging!
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| right now he is sleeping WHILE physically attached to me |
One of these years I'm going to work up the courage to get a Pysanky egg kit, but not this year. :) We had invited some friends over for dinner on Saturday, but after several messy diapers from Daniel we had to cancel, just in case he got worse. But we did attend all the Triduum liturgies as a family. Even Daniel noticed the changes in the church -- our parish covers all the statues for Holy Week, and that always makes a big impact on the youngest ones.
The kids all did really well at the liturgies, even the late ones. Well, Katie and Joseph fell asleep after about half an hour at the Vigil and lay stretched out on the pews. There was one tense moment when Katie tried to roll over in her sleep and would have fallen off the pew, if the lady sitting behind us hadn't shot out an arm to catch her. :) Daniel was a different story. He had taken a couple really good naps that day, which made him cheerful enough for the Mass, but kept him awake for ALL 2 1/2 HOURS. He finally fell asleep in the car on the way home, shortly after 11pm. I had a really difficult time at Mass. He was cheerful, yes, but tired enough to be acting up -- wiggly and loud. Wiggly and Easter Vigil do not mix. I spent all the time when the candles were lit hanging out in the back of the church, where we couldn't hear or see anything. I will admit it now that my attitude was not good. And just before Communion, when I was finally starting to feel glad that I had come because at least I got to receive Holy Communion, Daniel had a huge, messy, LOUD, embarrassing diaper that took all of Communion time to change. And the bathroom was out of paper towels.
In retrospect I should have stayed home with Daniel, and then attended Mass early on Easter morning by myself. But as it was, we got home really late, and then had to get things ready for the Easter Bunny to come. And then, of course, even though the kids were up really late, they all woke up bright and early Sunday morning, begging to hunt their eggs. I was not a happy camper Sunday morning. But once I had a cup of Godiva chocolate truffle coffee with lots of milk and sugar, things started looking up. And then Mr. Pickles let me take a nice long nap in the afternoon, and that made everything better. :)
Easter Sunday was joyful and peaceful. We hunted eggs, we ate good food, we napped, we watched movies, we devoured chocolate.
Well, all except Daniel. He just didn't understand why everyone ELSE got to eat "lala" (chocolate) and he didn't! :( He is on a strict b.r.a.t. diet until the midnight baths stop. I've noticed that it's becoming a family Easter tradition that someone will develop an intestinal bug that will preclude them from consuming any Easter goodies. So don't ever visit us during Easter.
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| full disclosure: some of us changed out of our jammies to take this picture after dinner :) |
Happy Easter from the Pickles!
I sympathize about the fussies and wiggles for the longer services.
ReplyDeleteMy instinct and plan was to stay home with the boys, but Joe was going and Tine was over and she was going, and they both kinda coaxed me to go.
The boys fussed through the whole thing, for the most part, but about an hour and fifteen minutes in, they really lost it.
And both Tine and I were on the verge of losing it ourselves. (Joe was singing in the choir.)
We were about to leave once the veneration of the cross was over, but then they pretty much had communion afterwards and we stuck around for that. But left right after. We were so burnt out and done. (Honestly, I don't remember much of Good Friday services. I couldn't pay attention once.)
Next year I'm going with my instincts and staying home for all the long services and only taking the boys to Easter Sunday mass. Until they are much older to understand to sit still, we're sticking to just the hour, hour and fifteen max, masses.
I'm still recovering. >_>
See, that's what you get for listening to your husband. Let that be a lesson!
ReplyDeleteLesson learned, Dave. Lesson learned.
DeleteLesson learned, Dave. Lesson learned.
DeleteHaha! Yes, that's right. Follow your instincts. I didn't either, and I paid for it. The only reason we go to the liturgies as a family is because we have older kids who get it. We took the girls when they were little because they were sweet little girls who could hold still. :) (Well, Katie had more trouble, but she was manageable.)
ReplyDeleteI would actually say you're well within your rights to do split-shift Masses until the boys are older and can pay attention to what's happening. (That should be happening pretty soon with Damien, I would say.) I've heard from several older people that that was what everyone did when Long and Latin was the order of the day. I actually dropped out of the choir because it was getting too hard for Greg to manage the kids alone in the pew while I was singing.
Yeah. Trust me... this ain't happening again. x_x
DeleteAs it is, there are some weekends where we tag-team for masses. For the most part, though, we go as a family to the Latin mass where Joe sings in the choir. I typically sit upstairs in the loft with the boys, and Joe can hold Anthony if I need to take Damien downstairs. But whn Abthony gets more mobile, I'm not so sure I'm gonna want to chase them both around. And if we decide to have more, yeah, either the tag-teaming will become the norm, or Joe may have to go to the Latin mass on his own and then again with all of us. We'll see what the future holds.
But right now, when they're little and don't understand what's going on, despite our best efforts to dumb it down for them, they're just too full of energy and want to move move move.
(My phone posted my response to Dave twice. O_o )
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