Since we are reminiscing (back on the 4th) about inappropriate attire… Every December it is our custom to take the sunday school littles to “big church” at the beginning of the service for the lighting of the advent candles, and to hear/sing a few christmas hymns. Then when the talking begins, we scurry back to our Sunday school class. Last year, the children’s choir was also going to sing on one of those Sunday mornings.
Somehow a communication mishap occurred and one of the parents missed the memo that their daughter would be singing in big church. Said daughter was also blithely unaware and dressed herself in a princess dress that morning. Princess dresses are very popular with the pre-K crowd. And for clarity, I don’t mean a dress that is reminiscent of a princess dress, I mean a dress that is an exact replica of the disney princess de jour. All of the other children showed up in Christmas finery. To stave off the meltdown, I offered up the solution that we do have children's choir robes, and that would be adorable. However, apparently some people are really opposed to choir robes.
The father of the daughter wearing the princess dress drove home and secured a change of clothes. When he returned with a cute christmas outfit, you would think everything would be better. You would be wrong. The poor dad chose an outfit with a sequined llama wearing Christmas lights for his daughter. What was wrong with that outfit? His very serious princess daughter said that was too silly of an outfit to wear in BIG CHURCH to sing in front of everyone. How could she be expected to sing about Jesus with a llama on her shirt and sequins? By this time, church had already started and our class of littles was sitting on the front row.
I am not naming names, or casting aspersions, but children of a certain generation are aware that at this point, another generation of choir leaders, sunday school teachers, grandmothers, or parents might have resorted to that “that look” and a stern warning. Javi’s own sainted mother might have kicked a child in her pointed stiletto heels. #allegedly
But that was a different generation. As Matthew’s father I understood the whole “this is not serious enough for church” thinking. He told the children’s minister in Colorado that their Sunday school didn’t meet his spiritual needs so he would just go to big church with the grown ups. So, I am familiar with that way of thinking.
Ms. Kathleen took a different approach, she pulled the little princess under her arm and while we sat on the front row, she whispered how much she liked the Christmas llama top, and showed off the sequins on her own shirt. She also pointed out the sequins on some of the other little girls outfits. Tears stopped, everyone calmed down. And when it was time, the serious princess in the llama shirt got up and sang beautifully with the rest of the children's choir.
Ms. Kathleen is 100% a boy mom. There is no denying that. However, and, yet, still… I sometimes forget that she has also been a girl aunt for a very long time. So maybe that was not Ms. Kathleen the Sunday school teacher, but Aunt Kathleen that stepped up and saved Christmas that time.
No comments:
Post a Comment