I’m currently at a McDonald’s that is just across the street from the church where Alyssa and Ryan are attending another VBS. They had such a fantastic time last week and couldn’t WAIT to go again. This particular VBS is at a church that is about twenty minutes/ten miles from us, so I decided to kill the three hours that the VBS is held for this week (Monday – Friday) at McDonald’s, rather than waste valuable work time and equally valuable gas running back and forth. I can definitely get plenty of articles and general information written about baby shower invitations in the time I’ll be spending here!
Anyway, this particular church is HUGE. They had online registration for their VBS, which should have been my first clue as to the turnout there would probably be. Silly me missed the registration deadline (though in my defense I didn’t even hear about this particular VBS until last Saturday!), so we had to register this morning. We arrived around 8:35am — start time was 8:45am — and they were PACKED. It took us about a half an hour to get the paperwork, fill it out, pick out t-shirts (T-SHIRTS! At a VBS!), then wait in another line to get the kids registered in their individual classes.
From there we went into the sanctuary, and it was PACKED. And LOUD. Well organized, but still PACKED and LOUD. Ryan was okay while I found a staff member who directed Alyssa to the appropriate section (she is in the pre-k class, since she is starting kindergarten this year) and then Ryan and I to the preschool classes. I introduced him to his teacher, mentioned that he is autistic (it’s also written on his registration papers and on his identification card), and she picked him up and put him on her lap, and put her arms around him so that all he had to focus on was here. At that moment, he looked like he was about to cry. Or scream. Or both. I know he WANTS to be at VBS, but it was just a little too much noise and chaos for him. But after a minute or so he seemed to calm down and focus on the singing that several people on the stage were doing, so I quickly said goodbye and sneaked to the back of the church. I stayed there for a few minutes, and then left.
I know I did the right thing in leaving, after establishing with him where he was, what he would be doing, who his teacher was, and that Alyssa was just a few pews away. But if you could have seen Ryan’s face, his eyes… ugh, it makes me teary all over again just thinking about it. 
My poor baby. I hope he’s having a good time!
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My name is Jenn, and I'm 27 years old. I'm happily married to my best friend and soulmate, Daniel. Together we have a six year old daughter named 
Name: Alyssa
Name: Ryan
