Am I the only one?

Okay, so I know I'm not the only one, and this may be a little bit of a rant, but as Shannon can attest, we had a REALLY hard time at church today! Am I the only one whose kid will just run off to his own delight and not even realize how far he's gone? Am I the only one whose kid screams at the top of the lungs because I picked him up! and saved him from falling off the chairs! stopped him from playing, MOM! I don't know what it was today, but no matter what I did he would just SCREAM! And run away! And scream! After Sunday School I decided I had had enough and decided to leave.

We got in the car and I gave him his sippy cup that he finallly drank, turned the a/c on high since it was hot in the building and we sat there. After a few minutes I decided I wasn't going to let Ben win. So I drove the car to a closer spot, got our stuff and we went back inside. The SECOND I set him down he ran as fast as he could away from me and screamed bloody murder when I grabbed him from running down the hall. I decided to take him into sacrament meeting anyway. My usual spot was taken and it was the middle of the opening hymn, so I grabbed the aisle seat on a nearly empty row. Ben starts crying again when I set him down on the pew. Okay crying is an understatement. A man behind me got his attention and Ben immediately turned around raised his arms and the man picked him up and held him on his lap. Through the rest of the song. Through the opening prayer and announcements. This man is a recent convert and I don't know him at all, but I was so grateful for him. Between the two of us we were able to keep Ben occupied through the sacrament and half of the first speaker when Ben banged his head on the pew and completely lost it. I decided, then, it was okay to leave. I was nearly in tears because I was so grateful that this guy whose name I didn't even know was willing to be so sweet to Ben and get him to calm down for a while. I feel so inadequate that I can't get him to sit still and that he doesn't listen to me when I say No, but I'm hoping this phase will pass. When it comes to a battle of wills I always seem to lose. I'm just grateful he'll be able to go to nursery soon.

I had this same experience a month of so ago at choir practice and Ben was just so overtired and was either going to lay on the floor and scream, or we were going to have to leave. Sister Neaves, who I love, was sitting next to me watching my struggle and said one of her daughters was that way, very strong willed. She said that she has seen an influx of really strong-willed children, Ben included, and is grateful for their vibrant spirits because we will need these strong souls one day. With the way the world is, our kids are going to have to be stong in what they believe if they're going to make it. I had never thought about it that way and I can only pray that Ben is one of those srong, steadfast kids that will be stubborn in his obedience!

I know this is a long post, so here are pictures! Unsurprisingly, the first one is Ben taking off at the parking lot of the Mansfield chapel after Bob von Bose's funeral on Saturday. I was helping Mom take their family pictures. It was a fun time. The rest of the pictures I took today at my mom's house.