Upon entering the church, I told our oldest son to not use his phone. I went on to explain all the reasons. I even said something like this, “Under no circumstances should you be on your phone!”
We sat in our usual spots.
Tristan began his game. He thinks sometimes church is play time. To get a game going, he will start giggling-LOUD. The more we say “Shh,” the more Tristan laughs.
Off to the cry room, we went.
Tristan got LOUDER in the cry room. His voice echoed. While he is a toddler/pre-schooler developmentally, he now has a deep man voice! Brian and I sat in this room trying to figure out how sound proof is this room. I wish someone could have heard us contemplating the soundproof level. One of said, “You know cry rooms should have a sign posted on how sound proof this area is.”
It was a very awkward parenting moment. I’ll admit, we have had our share of these when parenting Tristan.
The minutes are ticking away. Not one person turned their head to see where the noise was coming from. I said, “Gee I wish I could text Jacob and ask him if he can hear us? I did say ‘Do not use your phone’ so I guess that is not an option.”
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tristan did not settle down. The loud laughter continued. I could feel my face turning red hot with embarrassment. If we stay, we are a scene. If we leave this room, we are a scene.
After 10 nerve-racking minutes, we dashed out the cry room and headed to the car.
Our oldest son stayed in church a few extra minutes deciding to not associate with us. While we waited in the car, I glanced at my phone. I had a new text message from… Jacob.
It said:
“Let’s leave.”
I sank in my seat. I said to Brian, “Oh man. Jacob texted us to leave a while ago. That means everyone could hear Tristan.”
Jacob arrived in the car. I turned to him and asked, “Could you hear Tristan laughing?”
Jacob answered in his matter of fact manner, “Yes, and so could everyone else.”
I think I need to crawl under that rock again.
Enjoy another healthy dose of laughter from our home!
Check out my latest post on thepracticalsideofautism.com on family time~
It’s called “Practical Tip #35 – Hands-On Museums.”
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