Thursday, November 02, 2006

Warning - Religious Moment Ahead

The day after Halloween is All Saint's Day, a Holy Day of Obligation, so if you are a Catholic that means you only go because your 3rd grader is John the Baptist in the procession of Saints happily attend Mass.

You shake off your "candy" hangover jump out of bed and fashion a John the Baptist costume out of last's night Zombie robe and a pashmina take the lovingly and period appropriate costume out of the closet and let the kids go in late so that you can finish your 4th grader's report of Saint George let your children get an extra hour of sleep to ensure their peak performance at school.

After deciding last night's spider skirt is maybe too dirty not acceptable for Mass, you don the first clean thing you grab a tasteful and flattering ensemble.

You are slightly bitter about Holy Days of Obligation and tend to have the same attitude towards them as you did as a kid when you realize that Christmas falling on a Saturday means having to go to Church twice in one weekend feel fortunate that your children are receiving a religiously focused education.

You sit with your girlfriend Colleen and snark about a couple of the teachers and parents spend the moments before Mass begins in quiet contemplation.

You beam with pride as your son, or, as he is known for the hour, John the Baptist, speaks his piece and then offers up the prayers of the faithful. Your mood is greatly improved.

At Communion, your son walks to the front of the Church and proceeds to sing a solo.

He kept it a secret.

To surprise you.

You say a quiet prayer which goes something like, "Thank You."

40 comments:

wzgirl said...

What an amazing moment that must have been. and, what an incredible sweetheart your son is to think about and plan for such a special surprise for you.

Aww!

C's Mom said...

What a cool post...singing 'John' had to be such a treat.

I can relate to all those strike-throughs fromt he Catholic perspective ;0)

Anonymous said...

Did you cry like a little girl? (I would have). :)

OhTheJoys said...

Nice one! Love that post... and all happy endings!

Michelle said...

Awwwww...how cute! You are one lucky Mom.

Jill said...

Aww, what a sweet little John the Baptist.

carrie said...

Aaaaaw! That is so sweet! Is this the same little guy who got you that lovely jewlery last year????

Carrie

Mel said...

That is incredibly awesome. I love that he surprised you with his solo... I would have been blubbering like nobody's business.
Congrats on such a sweet boy, mama!

rubyiscoming said...

Incredible! Teary-eyed. Sweet, sweet boy....so did you toss the snarkiness to the side for the rest of mass?

sc@vp said...

sweet boy.

Rach said...

Oh...that is so sweet!

Los said...

Funny and inspiring! That was a great read - thanks for helping start off my Friday on the right foot!

Nikki said...

Fabulous!

Excellent write!

...and a superb ending. You must have been flying high.

Colleen said...

You mean your not supposed to sit and be snarky before mass? No wonder my mother was always mad at me and my sisters before church.

And I'm impressed that you're raising "John the Baptist" to be such a good catholic. My mother would be so envious.

Anonymous said...

I wish I went to Catholic School! It seemed so much fun for others. SPider skirt? What's that? Nice sweet post :)

A. Nonny Mouse said...

Aaaaw! Very cool. Congratulations go to the soloists mom. (As they should, since your sterling example (and hilarious strikethroughs) helped him land the solo in the first place, I'm sure). :) And what a sweetie to keep it secret to surprise you!

Anne Marie said...

Awesome, awesome child! All of your kids are so wonderful (as if you needed me to tell you).

Also, I grew up Catholic, and you hit the nail on the head with all that stuff!

Stephanie said...

Even during such a sweet moment for your son, as a fellow Catholic you had me laughing my head off!!

Melissa said...

He suprised you? That is the sweetest thing. Man I'm crying over here. (PMS, I've cryed all morning.)

The post cracked me up. I love strike throughs, but you made it into an art form. Since I'm not religious, I'm going to go with the strike through version.

Unknown said...

That must've been such a great suprise!!

Jenn said...

Awwwwwww Even I (heathen) think that's worth goin to church for!

Damselfly said...

Hey, I hope no one told him John the Baptist was beheaded!

Seriously. That's sweet and will make a nice memory.

Glinda said...

Hmmm, Catholic religion, quite an enigmatic world to me when I first met my husband...the first time I went to his church I thought I was starring in the remake of Rosemary's Baby, imagine cachetic women teetering on the edge of dementia with lipstick inches above their real lips, reaching out with their bony fingers to wish me peace...yeah right, they scared the crap out of me...no peace for me. And why won't anyone take their coats off in Catholic Churches? They pass the plate three times, can't they afford the heat?

P.S. Your son's heart is pure sweetness.

Puddin' said...

OHHHHHHH! What a sweet child! I love that. :)

Shelley said...

Your boy rocks! What a great kid, Kristin. You must be so proud.

Eric said...

As Napolean Dynamite might say . . . lucky!

The Domesticator said...

I must say, part of your post (the snickering part)reminded me of times I would go to church and try to stifle the eventual uncontrollable laughter I would feel. Why? Why does that often happen at church!?
Getting back to your post, how cute is that that your son sang a song? And better yet, that he kept it a secret? So cute and endearing....

Kelly Wolfe said...

Wow! Hilarious and extremely moving story.

That must have been an amazing moment.

Lisa

Haute Mama said...

Love those "moments" in life...very sweet!

J.D. said...

Who won the poetry contest?

Anonymous said...

You must have a lot of fun during confession.

ditzymoi said...

you misbehaving in church ? i cant believe it ! lol
im sure he was the best john the baptist ever ... how sweet!... and how proud you must have been :)

Cristina said...

Awww. He kept the solo a secret to surprise you? That's the sweetest thing I've heard all week!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for leaving a comment on my Forks and Chopsticks blog. It was a hard decision to make, but felt it was time to move on. I am sure that once my referral rolls in I will post a picture of the newest member of my family on my craft blog.
Stephanie

Lisa said...

I grew up Catholic too.

Oh and the other thing that sucks? When you go to a wedding mass on Saturday and find out that 2 hours you just spent in church? That doesn't "count" either. Bah!

But that is SO sweet that he did a solo and kept is as a surprise! Love that.

Anonymous said...

That. was. Awesome.

Anonymous said...

Awww! That's awesome.

Perstephone said...

That is really sweet. Don't you just love surprises like that?

Mrs. T said...

I would have wept uncontrollably. What a sweet, sweet moment.

Anonymous said...

hey waz up???? you are so awesome..............I am so glad I am related to you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!