My Benjamin is turning two this week and for the past couple of years my hubby and I have never once sat through an entire Church service without having to "tend" to our baby.

When he was an infant he cried in the nursery because the "wonderfully-giving-of-their-time...no-experience-necessary" workers would forget to place the formula in his bottle of water. I mean, wouldn't you be a little bummed out if you were expecting milk and instead received plain ol' tap water? It's like going out to eat and instead of a nice steak and potatoes the waiter brings you pb&j on wheat bread. Seriously, a big bummer; I understood the tears.

And then in the toddler room he would enjoy playing with the toys, as long as he had a death grip on my pant leg. As soon as I started to edge toward the door it was like a marathon sprint race: who would reach it first, me or him? And my heart would sink further and deeper into my chest while I slithered away... "I Abondaned My Child And Forced Him To Play And Eat Goldfish" was flashing in neon across my forehead.

And so my hubby and I would sit in the auditorium, with the pager in our hands, and counting the minutes until it vibrated. One time in particular, it was a good twenty-plus minutes into the service and just when my hubby and I were giving each other the "well, look at this!" nod, it buzzed. *Sigh* so off I went, to comfort my tear-stained child.

And this week he turns two, so we decided to try out the two year old room with the lovely Miss Jill. Seriously, the woman is a saint. She works with disabled children ranging in ages from 1-3 during the week, and volunteers her time on Sundays for the two's room. I don't have patience for a single two year old throughout the week, let alone a room full of specially challenged kids.

When we arrive in Ben's new "big boy class", I skeptically set him down and tell him "okay!" and off he went! To the fire truck, to the trains, to the play-doh! Disneyland has arrived at Church! Miss Jill set down a big bucket of toys and low-and-behold there was a baby doll in there just begging to be cradled. No problem, Ben's on it. He picked it up and exclaimed "baby, baby!"

So I waited... and waited... and waited. Surely he'd notice that he hasn't said goodbye. Nope. He could've cared less. So I quietly stepped outside and peeked in the window. He'd miss me when he realized I'm not standing there (I rationalized). Minutes ticked by, a bird sings, leaves fell... he still didn't notice. Off I went to Church, to greet my Beloved, but I sent my hubby back to peek on him a little later. His report: happy as can be!

We've achieved victory! Praise God Almighty! The funniest part was, my hubby and I were noticing things we hadn't seen since today: We have a Pastor! There's a band! With musical instruments! There's actually communion if you make it that far into the service. And wouldn't you know it, but they play a song at the end of each service, too! There is a new Magic Kingdom in town, and it's Valley Church.