1. The toy bin in the church nursery needs an overhaul. I found lollipop sticks, candy wrappers, Candyland cards (but no game), tiny toys (too small for babies), things that do nothing without batteries but had no batteries in them, stuffed toys with the tags still on them (choking hazard), playdoh lids and tools… I did clear out the broken and unusable things and the trash I found. Instead of griping, I should probably volunteer or organize some kind of system for cleaning and sorting the toys once in a while, and maybe even buy some toys that are better quality — age-appropriate, safe, versatile, etc. Don’t get me wrong — there were also some very good toys in the bin. It just annoyed me that the selection seemed so haphazard and thoughtless.*
2. The kids came out of their Sunday School class with bowls of candy. I wouldn’t dream of offering candy or any sweets to someone else’s kids without the parents’ permission.
3. It was far too loud in church today. It was Mark’s turn to run the soundboard, but the musicians kept asking for this and that to be turned up, and the system got overloaded, and yikes. Chain of command, Mark says; chain of command; it’s not clear who’s in charge of what. And he’s still new to doing sound. Oh, and for a while I escaped into the nursery, but then someone put on a kids’ CD and turned it up too loud, too. It’s a small room, folks. And really, kids can play very productively without background noise.
4. In two days I’ve been in three local stores looking for particular seeds. I planted my vine crop seeds too early and so they rotted in the soil. I had enough left of most of them to just replant, but I needed to get more acorn squash and pumpkins. But I wanted pumpkins for pies, not jack-o-lantern types, and I want semi-bush types so they don’t take over the garden. I found some online, which is good, even though shipping was three times the cost of the seeds.
5. I don’t like being or appearing so grumpy. Or feeling that everyone thinks I’m just overdramatic and picky and ridiculous.
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* I am trying to teach / model for Amy that when you keep your things tidy and organized, and when you take care of them, they reward you by being easy to find and nice to play with. I don’t want to foster OCD, and I don’t want things to be so neat and clean that there’s never any fun, but, just — taking care of things. If you keep the Legos in the Lego box, then you don’t have to go searching through all the other toy bins for that one piece you’re looking for. If you treat the doll’s hair gently, you’ll be able to comb it. If you think… if you’re not careless… and so on.
I hear G. K. Chesterton talking about people needing to be MORE careless… not tripping so much over worries and concerns, but just living…
Surely there’s a good balance.
on (2): Welcome to Hoosierville. We also still hand out gum to kids before church. The value systems are different out here. You’ll probably want quickly to train Amy to say “no thank you”.
on (3): You might want to ask the church to invest in a cheap noise level meter. There’s one that WalMart has carried for ~$25 good for excessive sound levels. I’m having to monitor our church’s sound level because I’m pretty sure it now exceeds OSHA’s allowable occupational limits and that can get you into a serious liability for hearing damage later, since churches have employees.
He can’t let the talent run the sound board because they will always adjust it for their own hearing, and they’re up front not in back. The secret is to do what every self-respecting engineer knows how to do: dissemble. Tell them what they want to hear (”yes, sir!”) and then put them into feedback. It usually works as a good excuse to “readjust” the board levels to where they should be to sound good.
Comment by manasclerk — May 18, 2008 @ 6:53 pm
Thank you on all counts!
On the sound board, on our way home we also discussed that he can / should adjust the monitors to the musicians’ liking, but trust his own ears (and folks not up front, if need be) for the mains.
Comment by Marcy — May 18, 2008 @ 7:01 pm
I’m at the opposite end seeking balance, as I’ve found that I’ve NOT taught my children how to care for things very well. It’s a disappointment to me. My Mom once gave me a speak and spell or something that’s been around since I was a kid. Didn’t last a week with Lowery boys! LOL! ~only it’s not really funny~ Trying to learn to be and model and teach MORE careful over here. ~sigh~ (((((HUGS))))) sandi
Comment by titus2woman — May 18, 2008 @ 11:19 pm
Sandi — sigh, it is a tricky balance, for sure! And doesn’t it make you think of Wife Swap?
Comment by Marcy — May 19, 2008 @ 6:59 am