Chicken Nuggets in the Atrium ??? Yes - and Butterflies too!

If the reality of a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atrium is to aid the children in connecting with the Holy Spirit, providing the essentials and the depth and lots of time for nurturing that relationship....

then we have a God with one seriously *awesome* sense of humor. 

The atriums I have the privilege to be the catechist of tend to bring out the weirdness in all of us:
(some of the following samples are not necessarily "weird" as much as "what typical non-atrium child even has the opportunity to THINK of this stuff?" and/or are definitely out of the usual for the particular child at hand)

adapting a presentation: the people have turned their backs on God
they go to Reconciliation and come back to the Eucharist

replacing the History of the Gifts - with FOOD

The Bible is SO our favorite book ever! 

chilling with the Bible

spending hours, VOLUNTARILY, copying Scripture

squeezing level 3 legs under a level 2 table - OWWW!!!
(but they refuse to adjust their positions)

1st chance these L3 girls get = mad dash for the miniature altar

caught in action! Setting up the gestures work

still torturing themselves with the too-low table

what is SO funny about the Origin of the Liturgy of the Word !?

general antics

begging for a photo op
they were trying to hide their joy ;) 

yeah, we carry flames
a lot

yelling at the camera - and dancing by the baptism shelf

do NOT take photo-taking too seriously ;)
because seriously, that would be SO boring! 

atrium is NOT complete without the CHICKEN DANCE!

Tebow
because we can
they have 5 photos of variations on this pose
so they could get JUST the right one. 

Our God IS indeed an awesome God
but really - how many times do we need to SING it ;)
(in another atrium group, it is "All God's Critters"

Internalizing the Atrium:
if you can't walk on the line yet, eating is definitely the next best thing

nap on the large prayer table
(he's not really napping - but he wants us to believe he is)

the Mommy-"HUH"-look
us adults use these a LOT in the atrium

so what prompted the "Huh" look?
the merchant knew how to use his head ;) 

he is SO capable of smiling
he was smiling before the photo
he was smiling after the photo
he even gave me permission to take his photo
But do NOT smile! ;) 

making butterflies
(I heard these are actually centipedes?)

we're never sure what she's doing...
...at any moment

beautifully bright!

the butterfly sprouted more wings!!!

panting for the Life of Christ

just because she can

L3 children taking off with the catechist's camera...
and taking VERY cool photos!

roly-polies in the atrium!

singing 'Blunt the Knives' and 'Under the Lonely Mountain'
while creating an altar scene.
Sure, they're connected. Really.
Altar - Mountain
damaging the dishes - Jesus changing Passover
Yeah. Sure.
Longing for, even fight for, HOME.
That one I can buy. 

Explaining why a sheep was crying
(one of the sheep has a gray spot under his eye - it looks like a tear)
the explanation got pretty elaborate and I don't recall enough details
to be coherent - it included being lost and found though!
And he was OH so serious about it! 

Ta-DAH! Our beautiful prayer table! 

singing silent opera on the line
(because the line is silent)

tight-rope walking! 

So with all this FANTASTIC personality, how could I possibly even bat an eye at, much less question, the fact that the BOYS (just the boys - not the girls) walk around the atrium with our Bread from "The Story of a Bread" - silently and seriously processing around the room with it held in two hands like it is Jesus Himself being taken for the Sacrifice. When asked, no matter the actual question asked, the only answer they will give while the Bread is in their hands is a very quiet, "It's a chicken nugget."

what they typically do:
hold it
and walk around
serious faces

They call it a chicken nugget.

Yes, I'll be adding some wheat grain parts - gluing and polyurethaning.

But really. A chicken nugget. I'm not just batting an eye - I'm batting them both - multiple times.
A chicken nugget.
And they're SERIOUS.

Well, maybe not just SO serious: 

on display for this post
Catechist: What is it boys?
Boys: It's BREAD!
Catechist: Good answer!