Heaven & Hell

A month or two ago, I took Tyson and Mila to a funeral. We met Daddy there which means I magically dressed all three of us to look somewhat decent, fielded 900 heaven questions on the way there (No, we don't take a plane to Heaven. No, Florida is not the same as Heaven even though we took a plane there. No, you won't get to really see Jesus today. Yes, you will go to heaven someday too. Yes, you can play with Willow and Jesus there.No, not today-when you're old. No, not old like Daddy, like really really old. ) and herded both kids three blocks into the church by myself (in heels).

I came prepared. I had suckers and crayons and snacks and bottles. All of which came in really handy on the bathroom floor. Fifteen minutes into the service,  Mila was crying and Tyson was, well, let's just say losing his marbles. My normally well-behaved, quiet, people pleaser lost his sh-t. There was kicking at windows, screaming to bring Daddy back, and yelling that he wanted and didn't want to go home. It was quite the sight. I (in heels) carried the crying baby in one arm and the kicking and screaming toddler in the other to the nearest bathroom where I promptly locked the door and sat down to cry myself. 

I'd like to take this time to address the church usher who knocked on the bathroom door shortly after we locked it to ask if everything was ok-no, everything was not ok. Clearly. 

Mila apparently liked the change of scenery and quit crying shortly after we entered the bathroom. She found her snack trap and sat down to have a nice little snack of cheerios on the bathroom floor. I realize I should be ashamed of this fact, but, frankly, I was just pleased that I was down to one crying offspring.

Thankfully, after enjoying 30 minutes of screaming and kicking on the bathroom floor, I was able to talk him down from the ledge and escape (relatively) unharmed. In other words, I totally bribed him with ice cream if he would walk nicely to the car.

Tyson was terrified and confused that day. The 900 questions on the way there should have been my hint. Since I didn't pick up what he was throwing down with the questions, he decided to spell it out for me by screaming and crying in the back of the church. I got the message, buddy.

Today we will attend another funeral. Dan's Aunt Judy passed away. She was an amazing woman and I wish my kids would have had the opportunity to know her better. She adored her husband, put together awesome scrapbooks and was at every family event with a camera to document the occasion.

Please pray for her (and for us) today. We've done a lot more talking about funerals and heaven lately. I'm hoping this kind of preparation will be more useful than the suckers and snacks I'll still pack.