A rough morning in the nursery

I just finished my monthly nursery duty at church and I need a glass of wine.

If you know me, you know that I would much prefer a room of 7th graders as opposed to a room full of children aged 4 and under. But, I have grown in my little kid skills. Maybe having two of my own has something to do with it, but I still believe that taking care of your own kids is way different than taking care of someone else's--especially 17 of them. Yes, I said 17. We had 17 kids in the nursery today, and that's a lot for our church.

My good friend, Michelle, was helping me today which was so wonderful because she is a preschool teacher and knows exactly what to do in all little kid situations. The morning went pretty well for the first three quarters of the service. And of course, all at the same time, all the little kids wanted to be held because they were tired. One was screaming his head off trying to get out of the nursery and another was hungry and wouldn't take his bottle. We had pinching and crying and sharing issues--all in a span of about fifteen minutes, and it was crazy.

After everyone was taken care of, things calmed down and all was well again, but I am worn out and in need of a glass of wine.

Disclaimer---I am not complaining about the nursery here. I love the fact that I can go to Bible study or worship in somewhat peace while Abby is in the nursery. Laurie, our children's ministry director who runs the nursery, is a saint and handles all of the hard situations (with kids and adults) with ease and professionalism. Because I am grateful for the nursery, I am more than willing to take my turn in there as a parent. I just know that my gifts are with older kids and I get easily stressed out with a room full of little kids. Hence the degree in secondary education and not elementary or early childhood!