Forays into properties of baking soda

I had one of those "this is worth it" moments of parenting a couple weeks ago.

We had a music leader substitute and she brought cups with mysterious clear liquid that specially selected kids got to choose which spoonful of mysterious white powder they put into one of said special cups. (Think grade school science project volcano) All of them changed colors when the white powder was added, but if you got a fizzy cup, then you got to choose your favorite song for everyone to sing.

Many many cups were filled with mysterious white powder and changed to a different color, but by the end of singing time, only one fizzy cup had been discovered (it being kind of a disappointment because no one could see it fizz). Everyone waited with bated breath as the last child was chosen. The Dude won the honors (he deserved it - he had been singing every word he knew as loudly as possible).

He turned to me and shouted, "Mommy, I get to pick! I get to pick!" and then ran his way up front. After selecting his spoon, he quickly dumped it into a cup (a little too quickly for the music leader) and stirred.

Fizz! FIZZ! FIIIIIIIZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

His joy could not be contained as red foam escaped all over. Laughing, he cried, "I got the fizzy! I got the fizzy!" Dancing back to his seat, he sought me out to smile glowingly at, just as if he had slain his first dragon. That smile (and the fact that he chose me to bestow it on) was the moment. I confess to temporary watery vision.

Of course, this meant that he completely forgot about choosing his favorite song and was way too excited to pick one. But as every little kid there knew - it wasn't about singing - it was about getting the fizzy cup!

Church - (sick child + spouse) = Enlighenment!

Today, for the first time, I went to church and the SM stayed home with a sick child.

I only had to get one other person to pay attention during church instead of the usual three. (ok, ok, two... we don't require attention of the rosita yet).

My enjoyment of church was increased by at least threefold.

Maybe I should wish for a child to be sick every week.

Or not.