I learned two main lessons this week at VBS…
1. Choose your parking spot very carefully. Our church is in the process of building a student center, so a huge area of the parking lot is fenced off and under construction. This makes parking a little more complicated, especially if you’re not early enough to get one of the coveted spots in the infant/toddler parking lot. Since I’m generally never early enough for those, yesterday I thought I would be clever and at least park in the shade up near some soccer fields. So, I did. And, at noon when VBS let out and everyone made a mass exodus for their cars, I returned to mine mere seconds before an Old Dominion freight liner {as in an 18-wheeler} pulled up and parked directly behind my car. Inches behind it…
The girls were in and begging for lunch, and I had just buckled the Baby into her seat {much to her displeasure}, so I knew it wasn’t a good sign when I heard the driver cut the engine and jump out of the cab as if he was going to be staying awhile. Hoping he was just unaware that he was blocking us in, I asked the driver about how long he thought he might be there. And, he said, “Oh, I just have to load that bobcat over there on here, then I’ll be outta’ here.” As in… he had to wait for the bobcat that was currently in use to finish its work, then he’d be loading it up and getting it on outta’ there. And, so we waited fifteen long, long minutes for the bobcat to make its way onto Old Dominion and out of our way.
The lesson here is… the shade isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. I’d rather hop back in a hot car than a trapped car any day of the {VBS} week. So, when you’re choosing your parking spot at your place of worship, ask yourself, “Is this a spot where I can entertain several tired and hungry children for twenty minutes in the event that we’re trapped here by an 18-wheeler?” Because, I tell you, it can happen.
2. Pack your snacks very carefully. Getting all three girls packed and ready for the day this week has forced me to get up and out much earlier than usual. It’s great practice for the near future, but I’ve got a long way to go in the areas of packing and prepping. Yesterday, I thought I had done a decent job of throwing everything together at the last minute. But, when I got back home and was unpacking the Baby’s diaper bag, I found her information card for the day with this on it:
We know she’s “very talkative,” but do you see where it says crackers? As in, she was served crackers along with her baby food?
The Baby is seven months old and has two bottom teeth. She’s never eaten anything more solid than pureed sweet potatoes {and a little bit of paper}, so she definitely doesn’t eat crackers yet.
I was so perplexed. I was wondering… do they give all the babies in the nursery crackers now? Did she ask for a cracker? Do they serve special teething crackers over there?
And, then, I continued going through my bag and came across this:
This would be my snack for the morning. My beloved Wheat Thins.
Apparently, I had hastily thrown these into the diaper bag next to the baby food thinking I would take them out when we got to the church. But, amidst one or ten distractions during drop off, that never happened.
And, so, since it very much appeared that this was part of the little meal I had prepped for the Baby… she got her first taste of table food in the form of a Wheat Thin or two. I imagine she had no idea what to do with the crunchy wheat squares. But, I bet they were much tastier… and saltier… than anything else she’s had so far.
Totally my fault. Because she had possibly the best nursery workers in the history of VBS.
The lesson here is… separate your big people snacks from your little people snacks.
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