The view from the overflow

You know how every family has their assigned area to sit each Sunday (just like in college when you claim stake to that cool desk on the back row even when there's no teacher really making a seating chart)...well, we haven't been here long enough (or maybe our kids haven't been quiet long enough) to make it up to the pews. We are still back in the overflow chairs. Back where Nathan still manages to entertain those around us. And we get endless entertainment from them. Right now there is a plethora of toddlers in our ward. A lot of them sit in the overflow with us. It's kind of funny though, when my kids were younger I was worried about my kids disrupting those who didn't have small children. So, now, we are that family that doesn't have a toddler (again, I didn't say we provide no entertainment for others...there's still plenty of chaos coming from us!) and I love to get distracted by these little toddlers in our ward. They are so great and incredibly cute! I find that they enhance my sacrament experience rather than distract from it. They are great examples of what it means to be Christlike...they have no guile, they don't judge (one bag of Cheerios is just as good as any other.....). They know how to find joy in life too--who knew the little carpeted step behind the last bench and before the first row of chairs could provide so much entertainment. They are pure. You can tell is hasn't been so long since they were with our Heavenly Father. So to you mom's out there that think your kids are messing up the sacrament "experience" for others, they're probably not. While you are probably not gleaning much from the speakers, know that you are teaching your kids that church is a friendly, safe place to be. Enjoy their little hands and smiles all you can...sadly, they will be gone before you know it.