I made the mistake of going to bed with the girls at 7:30 last night and awoke at midnight, unable to return to my delicious slumber until 5:30 a.m. when I ran into the other bedroom in a fit of anger. Andrew was kind enough to let me sleep in and made the traditional whole wheat pancakes with strawberries on top at 9:00. I had to take a shower, which made us quasi-late for Quaker meeting (you have to wait in the library for 15 minutes if you’re late). I made it in, but Andrew didn’t because he was trying to get Ostara settled in with the babysitter in the children’s room. He came in at 11:15 without any kids — mission accomplished, but said Ostara was crying off and on and he might have to leave again.
I was enjoying the silent worship and thinking how different it was to be silent with others as opposed to tossing and turning in bed. I thought about how I used to expect to receive a message from Spirit every Sunday, but have been having difficulty settling into worship because of the kids. Then I heard Ostara cry. I tapped Andrew and he ran downstairs to assess the situation. I got an annoying tickle in my throat and went to get a drink whereupon I met Andrew and Ostara. He handed me Ostara and mumbled something about her not wanting to stay downstairs anymore. I still had a tickle in my throat, so I took Ostara into the library and we read some books.
When meeting was over, I took Ostara in so I could listen to the announcements. She wasn’t being too loud, just sharing her usual comments, when she got shushed. Yeah right, I wish it were that easy to keep her quiet. I tried to tell her to not to talk, but to no avail. So then the person started to complain that she couldn’t hear. So much for me getting to hear the announcements. I took Ostara down to the children’s room again and tried to figure out how I could be a Quaker when I never have more than 20 minutes of silence at a time and am losing my connection with the community because my daughter gets shushed during announcements. I’m thinking a microphone might be a good investment for the meetinghouse. Either that, or I need to find a less silent religion.
Rebecca
