When we attend Mass on Sunday evening (which is majority of the time), there are so many people who love our girls. Our parish is large but feels small. These people remember when I was pregnant with both girls. They have seen them since they were only days old. The comment on how big they're getting, bring them small gifts at Christmas and birthdays. They love our girls and our girls love the attention. Since we began working with the teens, we have gotten to know so many people. Other's who work with us, parents of our teens, etc. It's wonderful and makes attending Mass feel like we're going to see family.
There is a Phillipino woman who usually sits in the same row we do with her son (he's in his early 20's). She obviously loves our girls. She is always trying to talk to them and get them to hug her. She tells me how blessed I am to have two girls, that she always wanted a girl. She talks about how they grow so fast. I feel bad because she speaks very broken English and I spend most of the time smiling and nodding my head, but have no clue what she is saying. I am terrible with accents.
Last night the girls were in rare form. Usually they do pretty well. Yesterday was awful! Hannah was tired because she refused to nap for more than 30 minutes. And Mary-Grace. I'm not even sure what to say about her behavior. Let's just say she spent a lot of time outside in time out. Towards the end of Mass, Mary-Grace walked over to this woman. No biggie, she was only two seats away from me. She held her hand through the last song and I was happy that she wasn't pitching a fit. I noticed that she was whispering something to Mary grace, but again, I didn't worry. I turned to pick up Hannah who had tried to escape down an isle and when I turned back around this woman was holding Mary-Grace's hand and walking down the center isle towards the door. I grabbed Kevin's arm to get his attention while I continued to try to wrangle Hannah. The look on his face told me he too thought this wasn't right. I told him to go after her while I grabbed Hannah and our bag. When I got to the narthex, just steppes behind Kevin, She was standing there near the exit with Mary-Grace. She (MG) had such a look of confusion on her face. Kevin grabbed her hand and we quickly said goodbye and left.
By the time we got to the car my heart was racing and I could tell Kevin was not happy. When he put Mary-Grace into the car I heard him say to her "Mary-Grace, we never, ever go with someone other than Momma or Daddy. Don't walk away from Momma and Daddy with anyone."
Now, I realize that this woman meant no harm. However, the truth is, I don't know her from Adam. Just because I see her for an hour every week does not mean I know her. Heck, I don't even know her name. For all I know she is crazy and snatches babies. Far fetched? Yes. But it could be true. And even if I did know her, you don't just walk away with someone's child. Mary-Grace was obviously confused. That isn't right. I know she was just trying to be funny. But for me, it wasn't funny. I feel like my worst fear flashed before my eyes. I feel like I need to teach Mary-Grace about stranger danger. I don't even know how to begin teaching a 2 year old that.
Maybe I'm overreacting. But since Kevin was very upset as well, I'm guessing not. He's usually so calm and level headed. He was fuming.
Any good resources for teaching 2 year olds not to walk away from their parents? I don't want to scare her, but that just can't happen again.
