Ash Wednesday Mass

Oh boy, holy days are always so much fun with 3 young kids!  I must say, in the almost 2 years that we've been attending Mass, this ranked as our second worst behaved Mass, second only to Christmas Eve Mass last year.  *SIGH*

Part of the trouble was a busy day all day today.  We had school drop off at 8:00 am as usual, then back home briefly for Mommy to take a shower and get ready, feed the baby, then get coats back on and out the door by 9:30 to get to Davenport (in the blowing snow) for Lydia's well-child checkup.  No shots, Praise God!  Our poor doctor was over booked and running behind, so we saw her about 30 minutes later than our scheduled appointment time.  No big deal, but Thomas was NOT willing to behave.  At the end of the otherwise uneventful appointment he decided to grab a handful of Lydia's hair in front of the doctor, who was like, WTH?  I know, me too.  Seriously, you think that's acceptable, kid?  Finally got out of there around noon.  Head to Sam's Club to pick up dishwasher soap, only to find that I had to renew the membership to the tune of $40+.  Drove over to McD's in hopes that they had the Fish Bites that they had during Lent last year.  No such luck.  I HATE the fish sandwich, probably because I hate tartar sauce.  Gag.  So we got on the road and ended up stopping at the Subway in the complex where Nana works, and got to hopefully brighten her day.  Should have kept driving since both kids were asleep when I pulled into the parking lot, but since it was already 1:30 I was pretty hungry.

Got home about 2:30, let Nana's dumb dogs out, picked up Amelia from school, etc.  Lydia stayed asleep for 45 minutes when we got home (another Praise God!).  Thomas wouldn't take his nap then. Amelia wouldn't settle down when we got home.  By the time John got home, I was done.

At supper, Thomas didn't want to eat his food.  Again.  After supper, we were all already fed up with each other.  Then it was time for Mass!  *SIGH*

Normally, Mass goes pretty smoothly.  Until it's a holy day and/or some time that's out of the ordinary for them.  Then all Hell breaks loose.

Mass started at 6:30.  I had hoped to leave the house at 6:00 pm.  We left the house at 6:18.  To head to church 7 minutes away.  There wasn't a single parking place left in the parking lot, unless you count the 2 spots where people had parked in the middle of 2 places.  John dropped us off at the door and went to park the car.

I took the crazy kids into church and immediately found that there was going to be nowhere to sit in the sanctuary.  I felt someone touch my shoulder, and turned just in time to hear Father Jacob telling me that there was room in the Sacristy and the side Chapel.  I said I thought it looked like people were heading up to the Choir Loft and he said, "Yes, there is room up there too, feel free to head up there.  I think of our few options, it really was our best option.  The Sacristy and the side Chapel are closed off from the main sanctuary, so the kids wouldn't have been able to see at all.  At least in the Loft they could see something.

We headed up and I got the kids settled just in time for the procession to start and for me to ask a friend to keep an eye on the kids for a moment so I could find John.  I got downstairs just as John was coming in, so that was good.  We hurried upstairs and the kids immediately started their whining over being unable to see since we were about 15 feet back from the edge of the loft and there were people seated in front of us.  When it got to the "let us call to mind our sins" part, I was whole-heartedly offering my "Lord have mercy" in response.

A few minutes in I noticed that there was some room left at the front of the Loft, so I suggested to John that I take the kids down to the kneeler there so they could see what was going on and he could come down closer to sit with our friend and hold Lydia, and we could give our seats to some of the families standing in the Loft.  In theory this should have worked out well.

In reality, it was a nightmare.  I heard about 3 words of the homily.  I couldn't tell you what any of the readings said.  I think I heard a few of the Prayers of the People.  I spent the majority of the time reminding the kids to NOT lean over the wall, NOT to talk in full voice, STOP complaining about who is standing where, NO you are NOT going to stand over there, OMG if I have to tell you ONE MORE TIME to STOP doing that, you are going to wish you hadn't been born.....  Yeah.  It was one of THOSE Masses.

Thomas was mad because he was messing around in one spot and had to stand closer to me, so he spent the next 20 minutes telling me he wanted to stand in "my old spot."  Amelia threw a fit when I wouldn't let her have a hymnal because she was going to drop it over the wall, and the song was OVER ANYWAY!  Thomas just all around didn't want to listen or behave and staged a wrestling match with me.  John had the easy job of holding the baby.  I was jealous.

After receiving our ashes, Thomas started acting up so much again I had to remove him to the bathroom, which was awesome since it involved pretty much dragging him down the steep spiral stairs from the Choir Loft to the narthex and on down another steep flight of stairs to the basement bathroom.  By that point he was lucky there were six people in the bathroom because I was about to knock his damn head off his shoulders.  We arrived back in the Loft just in time to hear the last few words of the Consecration.  Needless to say, I was not in the best state of mind to receive Communion, but damn did I need Jesus.

About that time Lydia decided she needed to eat, so we traded spots and I only had to wrestle a hungry baby who kept trying to pull my shirt up to my chin so everyone within 20 feet could see my chest.  She at least settled down enough to let me receive, then resumed her greedy eating.

So I just finished my second glass of Moscato, and am finally enjoying a quiet moment where everyone in the house is asleep.  Here's hoping the rest of Lent goes better than this!