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Why a blog?

This is my first time to ever do anything like this so please bare with me. I decided to start a blog mostly for myself. I wanted to keep track of all the crazy things that go on in our house on a daily basis. I also thought this would be good for my soul and keep me smiling and laughing even when I feel defeated by my littles at the end of the day. I'm sure there are a lot of blogs out there similar to this one and it may just bore people but that's alright. This is us, me and my littles!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Last night I attended my very first women's conference. I have a bad habit of avoiding things like this even though I know I need to get out there and be more involved. I guess I'm just a home body and am comfortable just hanging out with BJ and my family. I've never been in a play group or an type of women's club or group. I was invited to go to this particular conference with a small group of women that I'm comfortable with and love so I decided to give it a try. I made the decision to take Jude with me because she is still nursing and I would be gone for at least four hours. The church where the conference was held is an hour away from our home. I was well aware that there would be no childcare and I was totally fine with that. I knew that I would just feed Jude at some point and then she would fall asleep. When we arrived at the church we were greeted by women checking to see we had our bracelets on so we could enter. The second I walked in a woman stopped me and asked me to wait on the side while she radioed for someone to come talk to me. I asked if there was a problem and she said just to wait right there. I looked around and didn't see any other babies and realized that JUDE was the problem. I felt like I was in trouble and I immediately felt like crying. Another woman approached me with another very annoying radio and leaned down, very condescendingly, as she spoke to me. "Okay, Hi. You do realize this is a WOMENS conference and that there is no childcare?" I say yes of course and she cuts me off to say,"Well since this is just for women we ask that you take your baby out of the conference if she makes any noise or cries since this is for women." REALLY??? I was mortified to say the least. If I had driven there myself I would have walked right out and gone home, that's how UNWELCOME they made me feel. Please let me say that I am not that "mom" that will just let their baby cry and yell or talk during ANY kind of service. I try to be sensitive to the people around me and I never want my littles to annoy or inconvenience anyone else. I was pretty upset that THAT was the way this church and the people involved in this conference decided to start off the night. It ruined it for me. I sat down and was trying so hard to move on and to not let that rude welcome ruin the rest of this experience but it did. I really felt like there could of been another way to handle a situation like that. For example, they could of told me that IF I had been sitting in the conference and was letting Jude cry or make noise. Then would of been an appropriate time to ask me to please take her to the lobby but not RIGHT when you walk in. At some point during the worship I got up and walked out to the lobby where I found a couch. We spent the rest of the night there, me, Jude and a sweet, sweet friend that was upset for/with me. The lobby was apparently where the men were hanging out so it was an awkward place to nurse a baby, in the WOMENS conference, but that's where we stayed. They had the conference on televisions in the lobby but you couldn't really hear it unless you went and stood right under it. It was disappointing but I was really over it by this point. I'm not sure what the lesson to be learned was but I did learn about how insensitive some people can be and how NOT to treat people. Some people lose sight of what's important and they may not even realize it. I don't want to be like that.

6 comments:

  1. Wow. Fari, I'm so sorry that they treated you like that. I know what conference you're talking about and I can't believe that of all the places that claim to be "accepting" of all people, they would treat you like that. And Jude's the sweetest! Gosh. Well, if it makes you feel any better, I haven't had the best run-ins with conferences like that either. If you want to be at home with your hubby and littles where the Lord is teaching you awesome lesson's every day or if there's another way to connect with Him that works better for you, then stick to that instead. Do what's best for you. But anyway, I'm so sorry you had to go through that. At the end you said you don't know what lesson is to be learned through this, but through your story I'm definitely reminded not to judge people or be rude when you never know the other one's story or situation. Thanks for sharing and for the reminder. Hope you and your littles have a great weekend:)

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  2. Thanks Sara! I wasn't sure if i should of posted this but then I thought I might as well...it happened and it wasn't right. So thank you for your comment, I appreciate it!

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  3. Sorry to hear that Fari & can relate to that experience completely. Know it left a bad taste in your mouth (as it did mine when I was reading it!) But I think you can always learn from negative experiences & seems like you did about how to treat people.

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  4. What the heck? Did you tell them you had a friend that was six feet tall??? :) J/k love you Farica. Shake it off.

    I hope your littles get to feeling better! What is up with those ears?

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  5. haha Abby, you crack me up.

    Love ya Fari :)

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  6. I probably would have started crying :( You should have called me, I could have watched Jude for you. I think I know what conference you're talking about and I live right down the street from that church.

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