Natural Talent

We dedicate this post to all those who think they have the most misbehaved children in church.

Our family was sitting all the way in the back being mostly quiet and mostly listening to the testimonies during sacrament meeting. A few minutes before the end, a brother was sharing his testimony while holding his child. The child became a bit unruly, and he set her down so she could return to mommy in the congregation. I smiled as I watched the girl go down the steps, thinking of times when our kids are squirmy in church. A few seconds later, as the brother continued his testimony, the organ started playing random, uncoordinated notes. I thought "his daughter made it back up the steps and the bishopric didn't intercept her?" The brief interruption was very loud, and the second counselor reached back to grab this disruptive girl. As he pulled her up to his seat, we got the shock of our lives when Hallie landed on his lap! She had squeezed between the bench and the wall and made it all the way up to the front, walked up the ramp to the stand, crossed over to the organ side, and started her recital.

I thought "at least the Bishopric has her now", but she wouldn't sit still for them, either. She fussed so they put her down and went down the steps and up the aisle (now on the far side of the chapel from us). I thought about ignoring her, letting her wander out to the hallway, or being a "helpful man" (you can sit with me little girl until we find your parents), but I figured her grabbing my leg and calling "DA DA, DA DA" would give me away. I looked at Tara, desperate for someone else to take the shameful walk to get Hallie, but her face was bright red and buried in Colin's shoulder, laughing and hiding from everybody. With a heavy sigh, I walked across the chapel and met Hallie at the back corner. Tara didn't recover from the embarassment until after I had rejoined our family on the pew, with Hallie.

A few friends told us later that what Hallie did was funny, but seeing our immediate reaction to it, the shock and realization that it was our child that had snuck onto the stand without us knowing, was priceless.