Anxious to Leave

No photographs for this one....
(and clearly a far pre-written post ;) )


I had a herd of children anxious to leave the atrium this morning (as of the day I typed this). They had a great morning, starting with walking on our new permanent line, followed by meeting with the priest who went over the prophecy of Isaiah 40:3-5:
A voice cries out, "In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord!"...

The children then selected prophecies for tracing or copying, illuminating (beginning stages) and placing in their prayer journals; or practicing calligraphy strokes. It was a hard-working, quieter morning.

But with 3 weeks of being out (parish end of year Mass, Thanksgiving weekend, bad weather) and the coming of Christmas, the children were anxious.

I truly thought they would fly out the door and that would be it. I typically shake their hands as they leave, saying their name, thanking them for coming, and wishing them a good week or month until the next atrium. Many of them try to sneak past me, hiding behind a friend; or give me a dead limp fish for a hand; or try to do it so quick they don't even look me in the eye and they are walking past me with my hand still in theirs.... Ah well, I thought - it's been 3 weeks of no atrium, I'll let it go this time - I dismissed them from the prayer table and didn't even look at the door.

As I stood up and turned around to speak with another adult, I realized that the children had herded themselves in the doorway, waiting to shake my hand and say, "Goodbye".

Yep, they still had attempted sneak-outs, and some joking attempts at not looking me in the eye - but every last child said 'Merry Christmas,' gave me a firm handshake and said, "Thank you for being here too" or something to that affect.

Reminder to self: Just because a child fights it, doesn't mean he doesn't want it. 

Said without the repeated words:
A child may fight what he wants the most: consistency. Love.