This post didn't start off being about church...
It started with my asking "why isn't there a rent-by-the-day nanny franchise?" I asked because this past week, Daddymatic and I were both sick-sick-sick on Thursday night and Friday was declared Familymatic Day of Limited Mobility, which was fine for the adult (and, frankly, the feline) members of the household but was one to which the Wee One gave a big juicy "pphhhhbbbt!"
So I wondered, as I feasted on the requisite Day After Vomiting meal (saltines and ginger ale), why isn't there a daily nanny rental service? If both family caretakers are incapacitated, it would be perfect to be able to call in one's Nanny Temp agency, order up a nice nanny for the day, and go back to bed. As it turned out, we did manage to finagle something of this ilk out of our devoted church members. Remember these people? I think I've mentioned in a previous post how totally adorable the people from my church are: how they fight about who gets to keep D in the nursery, how they invite us over for lavish meals and pass on family heirlooms to our child? Well, true to form, the first person I called literally dropped the project she was working on and came over to watch the baby for two hours. Not only would she not let us compensate her in any way, she brought SOUP for the ailing parents and acted like we'd done her this huge favor for getting her out of the house. And the thing is, I have no doubt if I called anyone else from this congregation, they would've done something similar.
I have no idea how to even begin thinking about leaving these people if my husband gets a job next fall. I know there are other churches, other people who will like my child. But not like this. This is the kind of love you only get from your family--and that's if you're lucky. But I guess that's what church SHOULD be--your spiritual family, right? It just seems to me that so few churchgoing folk live the stuff they preach. It's nice to be in a church where I'm surprised constantly at how often and how consistently and how graciously the churchfolk do walk the talk.
Of course, it's even more surprising that they let women like me even join, but that's a whole different post.
So I wondered, as I feasted on the requisite Day After Vomiting meal (saltines and ginger ale), why isn't there a daily nanny rental service? If both family caretakers are incapacitated, it would be perfect to be able to call in one's Nanny Temp agency, order up a nice nanny for the day, and go back to bed. As it turned out, we did manage to finagle something of this ilk out of our devoted church members. Remember these people? I think I've mentioned in a previous post how totally adorable the people from my church are: how they fight about who gets to keep D in the nursery, how they invite us over for lavish meals and pass on family heirlooms to our child? Well, true to form, the first person I called literally dropped the project she was working on and came over to watch the baby for two hours. Not only would she not let us compensate her in any way, she brought SOUP for the ailing parents and acted like we'd done her this huge favor for getting her out of the house. And the thing is, I have no doubt if I called anyone else from this congregation, they would've done something similar.
I have no idea how to even begin thinking about leaving these people if my husband gets a job next fall. I know there are other churches, other people who will like my child. But not like this. This is the kind of love you only get from your family--and that's if you're lucky. But I guess that's what church SHOULD be--your spiritual family, right? It just seems to me that so few churchgoing folk live the stuff they preach. It's nice to be in a church where I'm surprised constantly at how often and how consistently and how graciously the churchfolk do walk the talk.
Of course, it's even more surprising that they let women like me even join, but that's a whole different post.
posted by the stefanie formerly known as stefanierj at 12:43 PM
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