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Today, we worked in the toddler nursery at church. Now, in about ten years, we are gonna have a huge youth group, but what we have right now is a bumper crop of two and three year olds. They are all cute as bugs, but we have LOTS of them. Today, we had six intrepid volunteers (myself and the Samurai included) from our community group to staff the toddler nursery, AKA hallway full of toys. We had almost everything we needed. The hallway was blocked off on two sides, at least enough to slow the little folks down long enough for us to catch them, should they make a break for it. We had our blue smocks on, just like a bunch of greeters at Wally World. The Samurai and EduCait, fearless in the face of surly teenaged hordes, quaked in our sensible shoes. Toddlers are a whole different species to us. Church started at 9:30. We had six happy little ones. Not bad; man-to-man defense was working well. Two of the little girls wanted only to be cuddled, so another lady and I were basically toddler furniture. At 10, folks started bringing us kids during the offering. By 10:15, we had fourteen kids! Yikes! Switch to zone defense! We played games, distracted combatants, and wiped a lot of noses, because everyone seemed to have the snooties. We lacked kleenex, unfortunately, so we used TP, which has an unfortunate tendency to cling to little faces. At one point, full-on pandemonium ensued. Desperate for some semblance of order, I started righting little plastic chairs and putting them in a circle. Magically, the shorties started helping me! They made a big circle, then sat down, blinking expectantly up at me. I goggled back, my mind blank. One little blond fellow started moving his fingers up through the air, grinning...aha! Itsy Bitsy Spider! I sang, they joined in, and we repeated it three times. Then we did "Jesus Loves Me" and "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." I actually kept five three-year-olds seated, happy, and engaged for fifteen minutes! The next time it's our turn, I'm bringing a boom box and a Wee Sing tape. We're gonna sing and dance until we drop. We survived with only one mommy being called out of church (her shorty wouldn't stop weeping, poor guy), no injuries, everyone happy, and only one escape. I got a hug and kiss from my cuddly girl, and the Samurai is now widely admired for his toddler wrangling skill. I am so tired. How does the Bookgirl do this all the time? |
 
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Shorties!