My Toddler vs. Crowds

Today one of the churches in our parish Grace Lutheran Church is celebrating its 75th Anniversary.  With a tired toddler, we headed over to the church a little before the service to help set up last minute things.

And then my son imploded.  Note to anyone who is not the parent of said toddler, don't make ridiculous demands or drag them around to areas they don't want to go and not expect a complete meltdown, especially when said toddler is growing, active and exhausted.  Just leave him or her the hell alone.

Okay, rant over.

And so after spending 15 minutes trying to calm him down in the dark church office, I made the decision to take him home.  Thank the Lord that the parsonage we live in is right across the street from the church. 

After getting home, my son went into a calm down timeout in his room for a few minutes until I felt he had calmed down enough for me to rejoin him.  We then talked (did I mention that he has speech issues so he has a hard time communicating verbally?  He'll be starting speech therapy at our local school this school year which hopefully helps him feel less frustrated with life.), we read a few stories and he fell asleep during the last one.  I took advantage of the situation and took a much needed nap myself.

Needless to say, this Pastor's spouse is slacking in her spousal duties to be present at the 75th Anniversary celebration.  I am still laying in bed with my son as he is snuggled up right next to me and finger typing this post on my droid phone at this very moment.

One thing about my son is that he gets overwhelmed when people get in his face (don't we all?!) but he can't verbally communicate is a polite way to tell someone to back off and let him be.  Speech therapy is going to do him wonders.  It is just so painful for me to watch him get so frustrated with himself because he has such a hard time communicating verbally. 

And so, I am sloughing off my pastor's spouse duties today to be with my son.  It would have been nice to participate in the celebration a little bit today, but getting snuggles from my kiddo and doing what little I can to help him while he deals with his communication and general other toddler problems, is much more important to me right now. 

If people are sad about us not being there then I am flattered because it means my son and I are missed.  If they are upset because they expect my son and I to be there because we are the pastor's family, they will just have to get over it.  I will always do what is best for my family first and this time it was to be at home with my son who needed a nap and for my husband not to have to worry about us on this day of celebration that he is a very active participant in.

My toddler doesn't like to be in large crowds of people, so I typically miss out on a lot of things especially church related activities to help him through his meltdowns.  It makes me feel really lonely at times because the adult interaction is a lifeline for me, but my son comes first, so we carry on and make the best of a tough situation. 

I thank God everyday for my family.  But when it comes to my toddler son vs. crowds, my son wins the battle very time.