She's Growing Up!

Today we skipped Sunday School for Julia at the 10am Mass and went to the noon mass so we could see our 2 neighbor girls take their First Holy Communion. Julia usually goes to Sunday School while we are in mass. It's been a long time since she's actually sat in church for the whole time. Jimmy was in the nursery (we're not that brave). Anyway...I was so impressed with how grown up she has become. She was pretty excited to see her 2 older friends, but she really took an interest in what was happening and participated as much as she knew to. I was just taken aback.

I was raised in a Baptist Church where the kids only stayed in church for the first 15 minutes or so and then were released to Jr. Church or were already in the nursery. Anyway, I never quite understood why kids needed to be in Mass. There were times when Kurt and I would attempt to take both kids to Mass (on days when the Nursery was closed) and left feeling drained and wondering why we even left the house. There are cry rooms, but usually they are a free for all with parents not even trying to keep their kids contained. Anyway...we have always put the kids in the nursery and Sunday School. I knew that Julia would be ready to sit through the Mass quietly, but not actually pay attention. Don't get me wrong. She's gone to Mass before. She's been good before. But she never seemed to pay attention. It just made me realize how grown up she was. I'll admit, I got a little teary eyed thinking just yesterday Kurt and I were bringing her to Mass with us in her little carrier and in a few years she will be standing up there preparing for her First Holy Communion. I am not ready for that. Let's get to Kindergarten first.

Speaking of school...we couldn't be more proud of how well Julia is doing in school. Doing the Young 5s program was the best decision we could have made for her. She is thriving. She's reading and doing math. In fact, last week I thought I was going to pass out when I saw the amount of homework they had. It took us a long time, but she is a smart cookie. She figures things out and amazes me. I am a little concerned about next year being kind of a repeat of this year, but I am hoping that the distraction of a new school, riding the bus, extra curriculars and all the goings on at an Elementary school will be enough of a change for her that it all doesn't seem like the same thing. She doesn't have to be the smartest kid in class (I know that there are lots of over achiever parents that think academics are the only thing), but I hope this extra year gives her that boost of confidence and maturity so she will be able to handle all the challenges life throws at kids as they go through school. Really...who wants to be the youngest and smallest kid in class? We really should have planned better with these November babies.