Just Another Weekend

I passed some rite of motherhood today. For the first time, I faced a variance in the routine with grace and acceptance. And the best part is that the world didn't end.

We've had problems with Baby Z napping on Sunday mornings at church. We've played with different arrangements, such as getting him up earlier to tire him out by the time church starts, taking turns walking around with him in the stroller, etc. The arrangement that works best is to let him cry. The problem is that there are few places where it is acceptable to leave a crying baby. The nursing and toddler rooms (with the sermon piped in) aren't sound proof. And there are few noble souls who volunteer for the nursery AND volunteer to listen to a baby cry for X minutes.

Today I checked the bulletin to see who had nursery duty and was relieved to see it was a woman I thought would be seasoned at hearing a baby cry. I wheeled Baby Z over there only to find another person filling in. I knew there was no way this person would be able to let Baby Z cry.
And I decided it was okay.

Granted, it would have been extremely awkward to back out at that point. But I made the conscious decision to let it go. To go back to hear the sermon and just not worry about it. I plied a few delusional platitudes like "maybe he'll just sleep the whole time" to make myself feel better, but inside I knew that I would go back to pick up Baby Z and he would be in the nursery person's arms- wide awake. It turned out just like that and Baby Z missed his entire morning nap. I adjusted his schedule a little the rest of the day so he could catch up on some sleep and it all went okay. We had one of the best Sundays we've had in a long time. We fit in time with family and friends and some time just for John and I (while Baby Z slept).

So, praise God for giving me a little more acceptance today to handle the quirks and blips that make life what it is. And thank the Lord that I got to hear an entire sermon for the first time in quite a while.