little orphan stevie

I'd be impressed with the over 10,000 page views if I didn't know that probably 8,000 of them are my own. I wonder if there's a way to get my own views uncounted? I bet somebody knows.

I had one of those sleeps last night where . . .

Scratch that. I didn't sleep. The last time I glanced at the clock it was about 4:30, and the kids were crawling into my bed by 7:30. Today will be one of those days where I'm thankful that within the last year or so I suddenly developed a taste for coffee. Not only "developed", but "enjoy!" My first job at 15 was at a restaurant. The smell of coffee was the worst. I even tried to drink it once or twice, with lots of sugar and milk, but I just couldn't force it. It was gross. Drinks that had even a hint of coffee in them - cappuccinos, molkas, etc. disgusted me.

When I was pregnant with Mitchell I took a sip of Steven's cappuccino. It was yummy. It's progressed from there.

I really was going somewhere with all of this.

I'm going to drink half a pot of coffee, and when the kids are loud and screechy and laughey with all their childhood joy this morning, I'm going to remember that it's me. Then I'm going to shoo their screechie selves out the back door. It's supposed to be a nice day today.

We're headed to the park this morning, apparently in about an hour. I haven't showered or fed the kids yet. It might be a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast, and a hat day.

I really did have something interesting to post on here, I'm sure of it. My brain is addled.

Oh, here it is:

I grew up in church. Not in church literally, they frown on squatters in churches, but I grew up going to church. I went to Sunday school, gospel hall on Friday nights and bible camp in the summer. Actually, some of my best childhood memories are of some of the things I partook in because of church.

To be honest, I'm not exactly sure what I believe now. I certainly take issues with some of the things the church teaches, but - I'm going to stop here. If I was actually going to blog about this I'd probably want to write it separately and take a little time. I take practically no time to write posts.

Anyway, let's just say that there are things the church believes that I'll definitely be having discussions with my kids about in the future. At the same time, I do want my kids to have an upbringing like mine, and I want them to have the religious instruction I had.

This week I've signed Jordan and Tennyson up for VBS (vacation bible school). They LOVE it, and any passersby could see why. The leaders are fun, energetic and excited about the stuff they're teaching. The songs are loud, catchy and happy. The messages are geared toward kids, the crafts are cute and fun, and Tennyson will be happy to tell you - he had a snack there. If you know my kid you'll know how important that is.

Then we have Steven. Steven is a self-proclaimed atheist. He doesn't tell me not to take the kids to Sunday School, church fun fairs, or Awana, but he doesn't personally believe. I think he's mildly irked that the kids are being "brainwashed" in church.

You know what doesn't help? When Jordan comes home from VBS and announces that Daddy isn't her daddy anymore.

Huh?

God is her father, not Daddy.

I tried to explain the heavenly father / earthly father thing. She wasn't sold. At church they told her that God is her father, so of course she takes it one step further and renounces Steven as her father.

I'm actually laughing as I write this. It was kind of funny.

Me: Jordan, Daddy is your father. It's kind of like you have two.
J: Nope. God is my father, not Daddy.
Me: Well, then what's Daddy?
J: An orphan.

At this point, I'm trying not to laugh, and Steven's again reiterating that he wishes the kids better understood sarcasm (it's truly lost on them), as it's one of his favorite methods of mocking someone.

As much as we all sometimes wish we were orphans, I'm pretty sure that at this point Steven has 3 parents. Orphan he is not.

I started to get mildly annoyed, because I want the kids to be able to do these fun church things and Steven's not that excited about them, and I don't want him to "forbid it", and Jordan coming home and announcing that he's no longer her father is definitely not helping.

Comments

Q&L said…
:) I'm sure even church kids with church parents have these silly notions, she'll figure it out and she NEEDS her earthly Daddy too!
Lora said…
I totally hear you on all this, and am laughing at my desk over the whole thing. they will be okay, I promise!

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