The Primary Presentation

Today was our wards Primary Presentation. I got a lot of comments about my children! Dallin and Alex were the first kids to say their parts. They knew their part forwards and backwards but they get up there and it seems like they have never heard of it! They had to be told every word. Then they sit down and Alex stands up on his chair and yells to me, "Mom, I did it!". A wave of giggles erupts in the congregation. Then he climbs up on the steps to the microphone and gives me a hardy wave! Another wave of giggles. Then he leans over the rail of the podium and says, "Mom, I want CANDY!". I am feeling the heat rise in my face and am motioning for him to sit down and fold his arms...all the while thinking how much I hate halloween at this moment! Well after about 20 times of him calling to me from the podium that he wants candy I decide it is time for me to intervene. So I try not to act like I am storming up to retrieve my child, but as soon as he sees me coming he jumps back from the rail and runs to his chair scrambling over the back screaming, "NO MOM, NO!". So I discretely sit down in a chair at the end of his row, the front row! I lean over and whisper to him in the sweetest voice possible, with a loving smile on my face - I am being watched I am sure by the whole ward - asking him to come and sit with me so I can talk with him. "NO MOMMY, I DON'T WANT TO GO DOWN!" he screams. Eventually I get him to come and sit with me so I can tell him that he needs to sit quietly. "I WANT CANDY. IF I SIT QUIETLY CAN I HAVE CANDY?" he asks in his not so quiet voice. I whisper lovingly, "if you sit quietly, we will see. But not if you yell it out again." I head back to my seat in the congregation, hoping with all hope that that would help him sit.
"MOMMY, I WANT CANDY", he says again and again. What am I to do? Scott leans over and whispers, "we need to take him out." I whisper back, "if I go up there again he is going to scream all the way down here."

"It is better to have him scream for a few seconds as we walk out the door then have him up there distracting the whole presentation."

I see his point but am not looking forward to try to convince two little red headed boys down from the stage, in front of every body without making a scene! Well of course that is NOT going to happen! So I go up and coax them close. I grab them both and carry them screaming down the aile. Scott meets me half way and carries the loudest of the two, Alex, down the aile and out the door. I take Dallin and sit down in our pew and try to keep him quiet for the rest of the presentation, Deneile and Ava haven't said their part yet. Deneile and Ava were nervous so I told them to look at me and pretend I am the only one in the room, so I couldn't leave until they were done. Deneile was the very last child to speak and I finally take Dallin out.

So there you have it! The boys first Primary Presentation! Some people came up to me shaking their head saying, "Boy you have your hands full". Many people came up to tell me how entertaining it all was, and why did I take down the entertainment! Well I am glad they enjoyed it. I am sure in a few years I will also be able to look back and laugh - maybe after my face has changed from red back to it's original colour! ha ha!