Incomplete Instructions

Another one from the catching up file from our San Diego trip:

On Sunday, Nana and Pop took Fiona to church while we headed to a ballgame (apparently if our souls weren't going to be saved that week they at least wanted to make sure the grandchild wasn't in arrears). Nana decided to see how Fiona would do sitting with the congregation for the first part of the service, and explained to her that when it came time for the children's sermon she could go up to the front with all the other children and sit quietly while the minister spoke.

The children's sermon arrived and Fiona bounded down the aisle and found a seat, where she proceeded to play footsie with another child. But she listened to the sermon without disrupting the minister, and enjoyed being with all the other big boys and girls at the front of the sanctuary.

When the sermon ended, the other children got up and filed out to Sunday school. Except for Fiona, who hadn't received any instructions from Nana on what to do after the sermon ended. As the children poured up the aisle (making it impossible for Nana to sneak down the aisle), Fiona sat happily by herself on the steps at the front of the church, smiling and looking around and oblivious to the idea that she wasn't supposed to be there.

The lesson: thorough instructions are the way to go.