04/10/11 – 19 weeks and 4 days
Today was Jackson’s christening. It was nice in an awkward sort of way. We baptized Jackson Lutheran. John is a non-practicing Lutheran and I am a non-practicing catholic; we decided to go with the religion that is least likely to end up in the news for child molestation. Since neither of us are very religious, nor do we take this stuff very seriously, (how can I not giggle when I’m saying that I will cast Satan out?), the whole event was sort of awkward. Whenever an event verges on awkward my husband runs and hides. First he tried to sit in the back of the church and I had to explain to him that we needed to sit at the front. Then he wouldn’t go get the pastor to tell him we were ready, then he hid out on the porch through most of the party drinking beer with the other dads. All while I was inside taking care of the baby and the party. Now he is fast asleep and has been since about 9:00, though I caught him sleeping on the couch at about 8:30.
The reason I started writing tonight was not to talk about the baptism but to talk about how Jackson’s nap and now night time sleep routine has been a failure the past week and we have now moved into the crying it out phase, which sucks but more on that in a minute.
When I started writing about the baptism I was reminded of something I wrote a few months ago about how everyone is excited before the baby comes but then something changes afterward. Today was case in point. With the exception of my family and a few of my close friends no one seemed overly interested in Jack or the baptism. I will be the first to say that Baptisms for me rank right up there with baby showers, bridal showers and those parties people have at their houses where someone tries to sell me cosmetics. Everyone knows you don’t want to be there but you go because your friend, family member or coworker would do the same for you. It’s a part of life and you put on your big kid shoes and deal with it, and if you’re lucky there is free food and drink.
Now John’s family were the ones who wanted Jackson baptized. They were thrilled when they heard he was going to be a Lutheran, and they were so excited to have Jackson wear John’s christening outfit. Yet today you would have thought they had better things to do. His brothers were late and his parents seemed bored. Then his parents left abruptly early without even saying good bye. A few of our friends did the same thing leaving way early and not even staying for food or cake. It was just plain rude. I will be the first to admit that I didn’t want to spend my Sunday at a christening, even if it was my own sons. I would have preferred to spend the day in my sweats and playing on the floor with Jackson, than getting dressed up and spending close to $1000 on a party. But it was a formality. And as with all formalities there is some moaning and groaning but you just get through it. And like I said there was free food and drink. My mother in law and one of my friends who left early called that night with their excuses for why they had to leave and I know they were just trying to make themselves feel better. They weren’t really sorry, if they had been they wouldn’t have left. They should have stayed, end of story.
So I packaged up $300 worth of penne Norma and Chicken parm and moved on with my life. I poured a glass of wine and cut myself a big piece of Jackson’s batptism cake. Yes, that’s right the Cake Lady spelled baptism wrong.
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