Where is that big black hole when you need it?

Surprisingly, years of Catholic school instruction has not made me disenchanted in terms of my faith. I am not the best Catholic, and Lord knows there are church doctrines with which I disagree. Still, I find more good things in its teachings than bad. I used to be pretty good about attending mass regularly- at least until Alice was born. I can’t say I really blame her. Sometimes I find it hard to sit still and listen to the mass. Because I did not want to be the couple with “that child”, I decided to take a brief hiatus from actually attending mass physically. Instead, John and I DVR-ed it. I have to admit that although God is everywhere sometimes it is a bit hard to focus on that fact with the pug snorting, snoring, and begging for belly rubs and Alice wrestling with me on the couch. Now that Alice has discovered the joys of coloring, we can generally get through a mass at church. That is not to say that the mass goes entirely smoothly. On Palm Sunday, Alice cheered “Hooray!” after every bit of singing and kept requesting, “More songs.” However, she saved her best bit of commentary for Easter Sunday.

Easter Sunday found Alice decked out in her finery and I well stocked with pretzels, coloring book and crayons. Things went pretty well overall, but the mass was a little too long for my toddler’s typical patience and attention span. She started acting up right around the profession of faith. Instead of the usual recitation of the Apostle’s creed, the congregation was asked to renew their baptismal vows by answering “I do” to a list of questions. Alice decided to get in on the action. The priest asked the congregation, “Do you reject Satan?” Alice’s resounding “No!” could be heard VERY CLEARLY amid the sea of “I do” responses. All around us folks were cracking up. I turned to John and chuckled, “It certainly explains an awful lot now doesn’t it?” And thus my central point about parenting is proved yet once again- - not only do you need a great capacity for love, you need a pretty keen sense of humor to survive.