Grape Juice

    In the grand scheme of life that is parenting, I'd like to think that Brannon children are the zest of life and do what they can to fill it beautifully with laughter, tears, knowledge and the occasional splat into embarrassment. As the parent of such children, it can be a fabulous life (mostly) and sometimes the blush rushes to my face over escapades I would have never considered as a child. Several weeks ago I was in the middle of school with McKenna when the husband called to tell me a story and to question the Brannon children on their roles in said story. Long story quite short, the grape juice in the communion trays at church went missing from all the little cups. My chest tightened some and my stomach dropped. I knew some Brannons were involved. They had to be.
    Sitting across the desk from me was McKenna, deep into her grammar work. I asked her if she knew anything about the AWOL grape juice. Her body slid down into her chair and her eyes were huge, peering up from the edge of the desk. "Yes," she whispered. Fantastic. "But Caelan did it, too." Of course, she did. I called her in. "Caelan, do you know anything about the missing grape juice from the communion cups at church. And think carefully before answering because I'm aware of the truth." She ducked her head "Yes, we drank it." Brilliant. Now in typical me behavior I stalled. Where to even begin. I watched my two daughters who refused to make eye contact with me. Somewhere in my mind I'm evilly rubbing my hands together with the "Gotcha" train of thought.
    Evelynn had walked in about the time I confronted Caelan and she heard enough of the conversation. As I paused to consider my options, the drama that is Evelynn and her overwhelming need to set things straight took over. To put it kindly, she flipped out, wildly waving her hands, gesturing grandly and with many words. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?! Do you have any idea how bad this is? That's for communion. It's SACRED. That is for people who have been baptized. And you are NOT baptized. And it was all gone for those who are baptized. You need to have a long conversation with God about this. Communion has a purpose. It's not for you to drink. You need to pray to God and make it right with him. I can't believe you did that. You need to go to your room and think about this. It's terrible. Pray about it, repent, and then move on with your life (she gestures widely with her arms). That's all you can do at this point. AND NEVER DO IT AGAIN."
    Caelan was sobbing, tears pouring down her face, about halfway trough the tirade. She left for her room. And I was still sitting there. It was brilliant. It ranks up there with the greatest parenting moments, and it's also on the list of moments that I could hardly keep it together from laughing. So not the moment for giggles. Evelynn huffed from the room and about fifteen minutes later Caelan retuned with red eyes and puffy, wet cheeks. "I am so sorry, Mom. It was wrong. But now I've prayed about it, I'm good and now I just need to move on with my life." I told her "That's great, but there's a little more to it than that. You have inconvenienced those who prepared the trays and now you will tell them what you have done and apologize. " Caelan and McKenna stared at me. "But that's embarrassing!" they informed me. "Tell me about it. I'm the mother of two children who drank the grape juice out of the communion trays. Don't you think I'm aware of the embarrassment involved?" They've since apologized. I'm fairly certain there will be no repeat offenses. Such a great moment and I'm amused frequently by it.