Day 46: Sunday School isn't Supposed to Be Stressful

The Prompt: Mary starts her first day at Sunday School for 5 year olds.  What happens?

:(  I posted it a few minutes late.

Mary carried two large cloth bags, an easel, posters, and an armful of books into the small room that was opposite the nursery.  Her hair was pulled back into a high ponytail, and she was wearing a pink blouse, long black skirt, and comfortable ballet flats.  She was running late; a few parents were already waiting in the room with their children.  Mary was already nervous.

She quickly started setting up her teaching materials while the parents left her alone with the two girls and three boys, two of which were twins.  "Please don't leave me yet," she thought desperately.  She wanted this job.  Now she had to deal with all the responsibility it entailed.

One boy, she thought the mother said his name was Nick, was already rummaging through her bag.  "Hey, Nick, please don't do that."  She started pulling the bag away from him and putting it on a high table.

"But I thought I saw cookies in there.  I'm hungry."

"Those aren't for you," she fibbed.

"Jesus says we should share."

Mary was too flustered to respond.

"Oooo, these are pretty!" a small girl's voice uttered.

"Please, Gabby, don't touch those posters.  They're very special."

"My name is Abby."

"Oh, sorry."

"Teacher lady," one of the twins tugged at her skirt, "Adam won't give me a turn with the truck like Mom said."

Mary looked over at the boy in the red striped shirt.  His hands did not look willing to part with the coveted object.  "Can't you let him have the truck for a little bit longer?"

"I want it now!" he whined.

Mary had been setting up her easel and was fumbling with the posters as she listened.  "When I'm done with this, I'll go help you, okay?"

"Okay," he said, not sounding satisfied.

A few more children were thrust into her care, and the stress Mary was feeling slowly rose like the waters during the Great Flood.

"Is church going to start yet?" a black-haired girl with pig tails named Rhonda asked.

"Are we going to have homework like in real school?" a boy with glasses wondered.

"No, Sunday School isn't really like school.  It's more fun.  And we'll be starting soon, Ruby."

"Rhonda!"

"Right.  Rhonda.  Sorry about that."  Mary flipped through her papers of notes, putting them in chronological order when she was interrupted again by Lori, who had asked her before where was the bathroom was.

"Ms. Mary?  Todd is standing on the table."  Her small fingers pointed to a boy in a green-striped shirt, the other twin, who was stomping back and forth along the table.

"Hey, get down!"  Mary set her papers on the floor to carry Todd off the table.  "You're not allowed to climb on furniture."

"But it's fun!"

"I'm sorry, but I make the rules.  Stay off."

She returned to find her papers disarranged again after Daniel stepped on them as he was running after the glasses kid.  She quickly started picking them up but was forced to stop when she heard an argument break out over the crayon box.  They had gotten into her bag and had started coloring the activity sheets she had been saving for later.  After she was able to pull the kids apart and take away the source of the argument, she saw the mess the children had created in less than the ten minutes she had been there.

"Sunday School isn't supposed to be stressful!" she cried internally.  "It's supposed to be fun.  They're just little kids."  Mary kept the tears back and whispered a little prayer.

"Ms. Mary?"

"Yes, Lori?" she sighed.

"Can we sing a Bible song?"

A song!  Mary had forgotten the CD she had packed.  Where was it?  Oh, in the bag with the cookies!  Mary practically ran to it, pulled out the CD player and CD, and plugged everything in.

"Okay, everyone!" she called.  "It's time to get started!  Come sit down in your seats!  Let's start by singing a song."  She quickly looked on the back CD cover.  " 'Jesus Loves Me!' "

She pressed play and encouraged the kids to sing along with her while she cleaned up.  Only a few kids listened to her, but at least their energy died down.  Once everything was picked up good enough, she stood in front of the chairs and led them through the body movements for "Father Abraham," which encouraged more children to participate.  By the third song, she had everyone's attention.  It warmed her hearts to see their smiling, innocent young faces singing about Jesus.

"This is why I wanted to teach Sunday School," she thought peacefully.