Primary Survivor

8 years, 3 wards, at least 6 teachers, countless bags of candy and I have a Young Man. The most frightening part of the whole idea is that William will be turning 12 on Saturday. 12! Ok, maybe that isn't the most frightening part-- This is: I remember quite distinctly the only Sacrament Meeting entertainment from the time I was 12 until the time I was 18 was scoping out the hot Sacrament passers and blessers, deciding who was the cutest of them all. Now, undoubtedly, there will be some Young Woman doing the same. And of course the cutest of them all will be William. Blissfully for me, he remains completely petrified at the idea of even looking a girl in the eye much less talking to her.

Back to the non-threatening part of this post. Primary. The past 12 months I have had the "privilege" of hanging out with William and Romney in Primary as part of the primary presidency. The boys have loved this. I have tolerated it. If I am still going to go to church, then I would rather be in Primary than Relief Society and Sunday School. William has had the same primary teacher in this ward since he was 7. Christine Wade has moved up with his tiny little class for years. Now they will all move on to YM/YW within a matter of weeks of each other. This teacher has become a friend to William, gifting him presents at Christmas and birthdays, making sure he felt comfortable with the other kids, and understanding that he is by nature, just a quiet, shy guy (until you get to know him.)

William is ready to move on. Completely excited to no longer have to hang out with the little kids. He even put up with being called to the front of Sacrament meeting to get his "graduation" certificate. Publicly shining the spotlight distinctly in his direction is not his favorite thing.

While I may be feeling ambivalent towards the church at the moment, I recognize that William is a great kid and that maybe a part of that comes from having weekly discussions about making a good choice when facing difficult decisions.