VBS - Take Two

This week C and I attended Vacation Bible School at my mama's church. I was a little reluctant to go since they started at 6. I had to rush like crazy to get there on time, but we made it all 3 nights.

The first night, C's teacher shut the door in my face when the kids headed to their classrooms. I had followed them in there and had planned to just sit and watch. C has been extremely clingy for about a week now, and I knew she wanted me there. Well, her teacher said she'd be fine and told me to get out, then shut the door! Of course that did not sit well with me, but I didn't want to start an argument, so I just sat in the sanctuary. 30 minutes later, the assistant brought C to me crying. She said she missed me. So I stayed with her the rest of the time.

That night, they played a fun game that taught them the story of Daniel in the lion's den. They took turns being Daniel, the angel, and the lions. C loved being a lion, naturally.

Music time was, of course, her favorite time! That kid loves to dance.

Tuesday night, C's teacher again didn't want me to stay with her, but this time C only lasted about 5 minutes before she had a break down. I didn't leave her side the rest of the night, and promised her that I'd stay with her the entire time the next night. Also on Tuesday night, her teacher wouldn't let the kids get up and dance during music time. She kept telling them to sit on the pews and sing. Um, hello, they don't know the words and can't read. Dancing is all they can do. C was the youngest in her class (its really for 3-5 year olds), and she doesn't go to daycare like the other kids, so she had a hard time with the rigidity this teacher expected. I was frustrated. I made my child behave, but I also know there's a time to let her be a kid. She wasn't being wild or disruptive, she just wanted to dance. I didn't see the problem.

Her teacher asked me that night if C went to Children's Church during the sermon, and I told her no, that C knows how to behave during church and that we're always getting compliments on how quiet and behaved she is. Its true. At our pool party last weekend, our church family was shocked to see how talkative and active C really is!

Wednesday night, I stayed with C the whole time. No tears! I could tell her teacher wasn't thrilled with the idea, but I didn't care. That night, the teacher wasn't planning on letting the kids go to music time at all. At 8:15 I said "aren't we supposed to go to music at 8:15?" And the teacher just nodded and made no move to get up and go. I slipped out of the room and vented to my mother and aunt (who were in charge of music). Finally, the teacher brought the class in there (when there was only 5 minutes of VBS left). But it wasn't fun cause she kept scolding the kids every time they started to dance. :/

I know someone out there will side with the teacher and say you shouldn't dance in church or whatever. But you know what? It doesn't bother me at all. I'd MUCH rather see my kid dancing to a JESUS song than some rap song about booties or whatever. And after being still for 2 hours, toddlers need to get out some energy. Dancing is perfect.

Another thing that kinda bothered me about this VBS was the preacher's puppet skits. Each night, he did a little skit with a monkey puppet that the kids loved. The first night all I could think about was how this guy looks and sounds like Christopher Walken (who freaks me out for some reason). The second night, the preacher came out dressed as a CLOWN and the puppet had a devil mask on. Have I ever mentioned I'm extremely afraid of clowns?! Yeah. C was kinda worried about all the masks, but she did well. That was just weird to me.

I am glad I took C to this VBS, though. I'm not sure she actually learned anything, but they tried, at least. Remember in our church's VBS, we didn't even attempt to do a lesson with our class? Having some older kids in this class made it possible to teach them a little. At any rate, its good for C to interact with other kids and adults! And being in a church setting is always good. ( :