Children's Church and Blah Blah Blah

Sunday my sister Marie and I taught Little Kids Church. There were just four kids there, including Maizie. Keeping four children occupied for thirty five minutes was more of a challenge than I thought. Our topic was Adam and Eve with some stuff on sharing thrown in. It felt a bit weird reading about the serpent tempting Eve and talk of Satan and such. The kids did not seem to care. I guess to them Satan is no different than a villain in a Disney movie. Growing up Catholic I heard and saw worse so I don't know why I am always thinking this stuff is too much for kids to take in.

Anyway, after burning through three crafts I began digging through cupboards for more crafty stuff to add to the crafts. I found kids scissors so I had them cut out one of the pictures to glue onto construction paper. Marie and I found out that two of the children needed major help with the cutting. Oh, well. This passed quite a bit of time. Once that was over I found a box of stickers so I gave each child a huge pile of stickers and had them go to town covering their coloring sheet with stickers. One little boy became bored or had a little attitude or something. He turned around in his chair with his eyes closed. I said, "What are you doing? Don't you want to do your craft?" He said in a real hushed voice, "No. I am needing a 'resting'." Okay, who am I to argue with that. Once he was well rested he turned around and began licking his scissors. Yummy!
Once back home I fell asleep on the couch for most of the day while Joe and Maizie continued working on their rocket project. Today Maizie is asking to go buy the motor for it. We are close to take off!

In a bit we go to tutoring which is great. Maizie seems to be feeling okay this morning after having slept till nine. Wonderful!

Right now she is working diligently on a puzzle. Stella is ringing the potty bell every five minutes which is driving me slowly insane. Ooops. Darwin just rang it now. Maybe they really do have to go out.

Check out Maizie's blog on carving pumpkins at my sister's house last night. Maizie is so excited for Halloween! This has always been her favorite holiday.

Maizie Participates in Church and I Take a Time Out

Another weekend passes and I certainly did not accomplish everything I wanted to. Oh, well. So...as the week begins I always have a little nervous feeling in regards to home schooling. Maizie's ability to work varies from day to day. Her seizures have slowed but all day today she had that "look". The "look" of a seizure coming on. We did make it to tutoring twice last week which was amazing considering how many sessions I had to cancel due to her seizures lately.

Tonight I was totally on edge. I finally had to retreat to my room for a "time out". I felt like my brain was going to explode. I knew it was me... Maizie was not the problem. Before I went upstairs Maizie said, "I am sorry I am hyper Mom." I then said, "Mom just needs to rest a bit. You don't need to be sorry." So I headed to my time out with pangs of guilt.

This morning we managed to make it to church. Maizie has a fear of hearing the piano and singing. Before we went to church I explained to her that all the kids would be sitting at the front of the church while the pastor talked about a story for just a few minutes and then all of the kids would go to class and do crafts and stuff. This class is for preschoolers so Maizie is too old for it but developmentally she fits right in. They have made an exception for Maizie and I do appreciate that. Maizie said, "Okay. But, if they start singing I am running to the nursery." I thought that was pretty funny. I feel the same way sometimes.

When we arrived everyone was in prayer. We were a few minutes late...again. We stayed outside of the sanctuary and watched and I talked with Maizie about going in and watching the kids or sitting with them. After the singing stopped she agreed to go in.

As the pastor spoke to the kids and asked questions Maizie whispered her answers into my ear. Even though she was not with the kids she was participating. I was thrilled with this! She was sitting in the sanctuary with us and was participating in a way she was comfortable with. Once the pastor was done all the kids followed the teachers out of the church and Maizie quickly followed.

For the first time Maizie was not in the nursery. Being nine years old she is way too old for the nursery. Luckily, the church has always been very patient and willing to do anything to help Maizie feel comfortable. Our patience has paid off. In time I am hoping she will be able to tolerate a little more of the service. If not...well...maybe she can help teach the preschoolers some day. There is always an alternative that can work. The trick is to be in a church where they are willing to make exceptions and be creative. I am so glad we found this church.

Making Easter Cookies

Today we went to church, Community Christian Reformed. Everyone there wanted to know about Maizie's diagnosis. They have all been a huge support for us. We took Maizie's cousin Christian home with us and made Easter sugar cookies. They had a great time. Check out Maizie's blog for more cookie pictures.