A Holy Week

Oh my dear sweet online-identity, how I have missed you! This non-voluntary absence is courtesy of a non-comcastic internet, phone and cable outage that lasted THREE days. Yes. Three days off the grid. Three silent, eerie days, and six customer service phone calls later, the tech finally arrived and fixed the problem in 5 minutes. Man I wish I had some smooth techie skills.

While I was off-planet, a story fell right into my lap. Imagine.

The last week of preschool, the girls had Vacation Bible School (VBS) flyers in their school bag. It mentioned ages 4-12, and I went in to get the appropriate registration forms.

I noticed the 4 year old form said "for volunteers only," and I asked the receptionist for a "regular" form, as I would not be able to volunteer this year. She informed me that was the proper form. I shrugged, and thought to myself: "Self, you received the VBS invitation in their school bags, so they are probably making an exception for children who attended preschool at this church."

My self concurred and gave it no more thought at all, having turned in the form, checked the box proclaiming non-volunteerism, and receiving confirmation and VBS class placement.

Cut 2 months and 4 days forward, to the very last day of VBS this week, at pick-up time, as I was thanking the sweet teacher the girls had all week.

Teacher: Hey, were you a volunteer this week?

Me: No, I wasn't able to do it this year. (looking over at Phoenix on my hip)

Teacher: Oh, wow! This class was for volunteer's children.

Wide-Eyed Me: What? I asked the church receptionist if I had the right form, and if they were allowed!

Teacher: Wow, you got really lucky!! I'm so glad they were in my class! They were my favorites! Well, next year they will be allowed, you know, really. I love your earrings! Where did you get them?!

Even-Wider-Eyed Me: Umm, Roswell Arts Festival, Mother's Day weekend show.

Teacher: Wow! They are so cuuuute!! How much were they???!!!

Me: Well, hmm, thank you very much, the girlshadagreatweekIreallyhavetogo BYE!

Ruh-Roh. Dear friends, please tell me you believe in my innocence in this case! Please defend my children's burgeoning reputations as illegal Bible School attendees! We are Bible School vigilantes now, and we didn't even know it. I am so embarrassed. Yet somehow giggly. And a little bit mortified. And what was with all the earring questions?! Really I am somehow shocked...and... (pumping fist and doing rock 'n' roll fingers) bwahahaHAHAHA! No. Not really. Mostly just wide-eyed.

Oh no. You know what this means.

Next year my penance will be volunteering for Bible School. (And by penance I mean simply that rather than a small break from my older 3, I will help with a class of 503. You know. Penance. Of a sort.) Probably sorting boxes of Jesus fish beads into tiny baggies of 10 for each of the 500 attendees to make a necklace. Or poking holes into 500 plastic cups so a ribbon can be tied through them. Or cutting 500 squares of stickers to send home with every child. 500. That's how many kids go to VBS at this church.

No wonder we slipped in the back door.