We are the perfect parents

That's right. We have not made any mistakes yet, so we have a perfect record with DomerBaby. For 2 more months. Hahaha. Which is why I can tell you the story of the horrible little children at the Christmas Eve mass we attended with a clear conscious!

First of all, we attended the children's mass of our own volition. I remember as a child going to mass all dressed up, sitting (mostly) quietly - though probably fidgeting a lot and being a nuisance to my parents - when I was small. When we were older, we participated in the choir, which I *do* remember was a very solemn and quiet job, indeed. The music instructor made it very clear that we were not to talk, whisper, move, or even breathe too loudly because our noises carried throughout the church. I remember, as children, going up to the front to see the baby Jesus and learn about how it's not *really* about Santa, to which we all agreed of course - it's only polite not to burst the priest's bubble, after all.

Well, apparently things work differently at the church we attended this Christmas. The children's choir was having a great time, and it showed. They were generally well mannered, though a bit noisy and had to be shushed at times. I was sad to see so many jeans, tennis shoes, and cargo pants throughout the church instead of choir robes or at least holiday attire. There were of course, the requisite crying children, which didn't bother me much, except the priest explicitly "invited" people to bring their crying children to the lobby and you could tell he was irritated when his request was ignored.

But the worst - the worst! - was when the priest called up all the children to hear about baby Jesus. Kids were going wild - jumping all over (including on the priest), not listening to the priest when he asked them to sit quietly, and even sassing off to him! The poor man could obviously not control them. He was trying to get them to participate by asking questions, like "what's more important, Jesus, or Santa. I don't know if these kids are just idiots, or their parents have never taken them to church, but the answer the priest wanted was always pretty obvious to me as a child WHEN I WAS IN CHURCH. Not to them. How embarrassing.

Anyway, T.J. and I were duly appalled by the entire thing, and more than a little terrified that our children will someday act like that in public (probably a 100% probability, but hopefully not in church).

So that's my judgy mcjudgerson post about bad parenting. If you were the person with the terrible little boy at St. Thomas Aquinas Church, shame on you. And I hope he got coal in his stocking!

[note: I am perfectly aware that my children, my current views, and this very post, will embarrass me in a way I cannot imagine in the future. But I'm willing to post entertaining stories for you! Don't you feel special?]