Bewitched

Today was the worst Sunday I think I've had.... ever.  Actually it wasn't the whole day which is what made it so weird.  Seriously, my kids were bewitched.

The morning at home went great, we got everything done and on time, arrived at church normal time, which meant we could get in our seats and get ourselves ready for Sacrament meeting.  A couple sat in the pew behind us and Theo was trying to climb over to see them, so I used that as an opener to say hello.  They were visiting from Utah on a road trip across the US and decided to take a detour through Canada.  Then the meeting started and things spiralled out of control before we knew what had happened!

Theo and Paige were just climbing all over the place but Sloan had melt down after melt down, screaming and hitting me and just loosing it over anything and everything.  Ryan took her out and calmed her down, she even came back in and said sorry but not even 30 seconds later she was screaming about something else.  Bewitched I tell you.  Then the worst part came.  During the blessing and passing of the sacrament Sloan screamed and screamed.  We had a moment of amusement when she started calling the Sacrament snack-rament but the humour wasn't enough for what came next.  The quietest part of the whole meeting, the Sacrament prayer and then the passing of the sacrament Theo crawled off under the pews and Paige took off crawling after him shouting 'Theo come back'.  Sloan threw herself onto Ryan's lap (finally quiet) but he had to push her off and put her on the seat to get up, at the same time hitting her head on the pew (the crack echoed through the chapel) which set her off screaming again.  He ran outside with her whilst I went to collect Theo and Paige crawling under pews before they could trip up some poor twelve year old with a tray of water.  We went back to the pew, me trying to control my sobs as Paige was proving that she didn't know how to whisper and Theo was using me as a jungle gym.  Once the sacrament was done I let Paige sit with some friends whilst I took Theo to a side room where I could freely cry and he could freely crawl around.  After composing myself (about 15 minutes) we went back into the chapel with Theo and Sloan.  Theo was a little calmer but Sloan just kept loosing it.  I seriously just wanted the ground to open and swallow me up!  All I could keep thinking was 'those poor visitors behind us, what must they think of my family, seriously they're not usually like this!!!'.  Luckily the meeting came to a close.  The evidence that I'd had enough shame for one day was that I told Ryan we were leaving the moment the meeting was done.  The relief on his face was obvious.  With that I started tidying up the toys only to pick up the pencil case and have the coloured pencils fly everywhere.  Seriously, was I going to catch a break?!  With the meeting over and me trying ever so hard to keep my composure and not burst into tears the lady behind me leant over and said:
"Don't worry, we've all been there.  I had four kids under four and my brother would tell me, 'these are the best days, you won't always see it but they are.'  At that point I decided if these were the best days I was going to be happy about it and trust me, they are the best days.  I had a little girl who just had to see the chapel and would start screaming!"
It meant SO much to me her saying that.  To know I wasn't being judged by these visitors.  All I could do was whisper 'thank you.  Thank you so much' without having the tears take control.  It was the boost I needed to be able to walk out of that chapel with my head held up rather than buried in the floor.  We still went straight home but I was able to let it go, just because someone understood.