Have you ever been to a wedding where you’ve had the gut feel that it isn’t going to last?
And then when you hear that it hasn’t, there is no “I told you so”, but you wonder whether your friends would have wanted you to have said something at the time?
Tricky, tricky.
Aaah, the ‘Schadenfreude‘ this morning at the family who rushed in to church for the last verse of the last hymn.
They picked up hymn books thinking the service had just begun and then started to observe all the grinning people in the congregation, but thinking they were just pleased to see them.
People processing out made them finally twig they were exactly an hour too late.
Our neighbours asked us to feed their rabbits while they were away, which we were very happy to do.
But what is niggling me are the two goldfish that they didn’t ask me to feed or ever mentioned.
I’ve scoured the tank for signs of slow release food which I remember from my goldfish past, but nothing. I also remember that it is quite easy to get it wrong with fish if they are overfed.
I took the risk today and found some fish food and they seemed appreciative in a glassy eyed kind of way.
Children do seem to accumulate pets quickly and they soon get forgotten about.
I had an e-mail yesterday about a beautiful collie puppy looking for a new home because the family couldn’t walk him as much as required. Did they not do their homework on collies first?? We’ll stick with our cats for the moment!
I like it when I am doing Sunday School and pick up the lectionary based material to prepare and it actually looks like fun!
This Sunday we will be talking about believing in things we can’t see. And it’ll give us the chance to play with invisible ink of various sorts.
Lemon juice revealed with candles was a hit when I was young. So we’ll have fun drawing Jesus with lemon juice and making him appear, hopefully without going up in flames. Although the kids would like that too, based on the fun they had when I brought incense in!
I’m looking at putting together some training on the practicalities of child protection in churches for group leaders. Something simple - “an idiot’s guide” covering the day to day stuff.
I think there are probably a lot of myths out there of all the things you can’t do with children any more.
Things I am going to cover so far include transporting children by car/bus, toileting young children, first aid, hugs and physical contact, adult:child ratios, photography, disclosures.
Any other thoughts as to what would be useful??
It is not even Easter Sunday yet and our house has already been deluged with chocolate bunnies, ducks and eggs.
So I am glad that I didn’t get my children any more chocolate. But my fingers are suffering from Ikea fatigue after having assembled this rather clever egg shaped chair. It is amazing what they can flat pack!
So I’ve done my best at explaining Easter to my 3 year old, but when I saw this cartoon it made me smile and did somehow ring true in terms of all the potentially confusing strands and stories that children hear. At least he is still asking “why” all the time!
I bundled up my son and went to see what the Church of Scotland were putting on for children in Edinburgh yesterday to tell the Easter story.
Firstly, I think far more children turned up than they were expecting - always a pleasant surprise. The morning was quite a traditional children’s event in a church hall with crafts and drama and some singing. Smaller ones made a garden of Gethsemene involving hand and foot painting while the older ones prepared to act out the last supper and the trial of Jesus up to the crucifixion.
The children all enjoyed themselves, but looking with a critical eye it was a shame that the coming together of the groups at the end to tell the story was a bit rushed as we ran over time. On the other hand, the day had a very positive feel to it, the story was never upsetting for children and they left looking forward to the next chapter to be heard in their own churches on Sunday.
My 3 year old had a good time at “Mummy’s work”, although I was astounded at what he appeared to write on his prayer daffodil for the garden. If I am not mistaken, it reads rather like “p*ss off”!!
The Barnabas website has lots of useful information, ideas and resources on it, including stuff for children about Easter (including Good Friday and not going straight to an Easter Egg hunt!).
One to bookmark for the time when you need a fresh idea or something a bit different.
I spent yesterday evening curled up on the sofa with my late grandmother’s recipe book collection. It was wonderful.
I was transported back into a different era where values and the role of the housewife were so different from now. Supermarkets didn’t exist. The meat came with eyes and skin on. There were fascinating recipe plans by season from the 1940’s; Ministry of Food Christmas recipes from a lean post-war Britain; everything you would want to cook with dried eggs. I love the way the books fall open at the recipes which were most used - things that I remember eating when visiting.
My grandmother was famous for her welcoming hospitality and if just a little of that could rub off on me it would be the most precious inheritance I could wish for.
The dilemma arose at the weekend of running an event that you realised was going to be rubbish, just because you had it in the diary, or cancel it without wanting to have to explain to the world why.
I think you lose face either way. The only bright idea has been to quickly come up with a super duper alternative and pretend the first never existed!
Watch this space. Face saved??
