I don't want to be in charge anymore
The thing is, I generally love my calling. I like being in Primary, I like the people I work with (most of them), and it's better than going to Sunday School since that always makes me fall asleep. I've also generally gotten over the fact that I am the president, since it's been a little over a year now. The thing that I am tired of is the relentless parade of problems. There is always something I have to take care of: some calling that needs to be filled, kids not behaving well, an activity to hold, stake reports to file, etc. I never get a break from it! Last week was heavenly because I just had to sit on my couch and watch TV (i.e. sleep). After that nice break, church today kind of felt a little like hell, to put it bluntly.
For one thing, we have church at 1 in the afternoon. The kids are all tired, cranky, bored, crazy, etc. by the time they hit Primary at 2:15. Today we also had a kid who is inactive show up with a friend of his. This should be a good thing, but they were so disruptive during sharing time that the teacher had to pick each one up by their collar (literally) and haul them out. I'm very glad I called her to teach that class--she's tough.
Also, it seems to take forever to get callings filled. I seriously am beginning to wonder what my problem is, because Relief Society fills their callings rather quickly. We've been without a nursery leader for about 2 months now. I've tried about 10 different people, and for various reasons none of them have gotten approved. It is kind of hard in this ward, because we do have a number of people who are too elderly to physically do Primary, but we have a lot who aren't. When the bishop got up today and announced "we have no ward business" I just about screamed "Why not? I need a nursery leader". Then after church one of the counselors told me that they had called some people this morning to various things we need, but he didn't tell me why they didn't sustain them in sacrament meeting. I'm still a little upset about that.
And, finally, I got a call tonight from a parent who was worried because her husband had been sitting on the daughter's class when the teacher mentioned the law of chastity. Then, when the kids asked what that meant, the teacher replied "it has to do with sex". Great, now I have teachers talking about sex in Primary. Granted, the kids are 11 and most of them should know about it. But the lesson was on the temple and I know that it specifically didn't mention sex or the law of chastity. We just don't talk about that in Primary--they like to save it for Young Women and Young Men (and for parents to discuss with their kids). Now I get to talk to the teacher and hope it doesn't blow up into one of those annoying "big deal" things that have already happened several times during my tenure as president. Now that I have a child, I can understand why parents tend to get a little crazy, but I still hate to get stuck in the middle of things like that.
So yeah, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with my calling. I would hate to get released, and I probably won't until we move. But at the same time I keep wondering what would happen if I submitted my own name for pianist or nursery leader...
For one thing, we have church at 1 in the afternoon. The kids are all tired, cranky, bored, crazy, etc. by the time they hit Primary at 2:15. Today we also had a kid who is inactive show up with a friend of his. This should be a good thing, but they were so disruptive during sharing time that the teacher had to pick each one up by their collar (literally) and haul them out. I'm very glad I called her to teach that class--she's tough.
Also, it seems to take forever to get callings filled. I seriously am beginning to wonder what my problem is, because Relief Society fills their callings rather quickly. We've been without a nursery leader for about 2 months now. I've tried about 10 different people, and for various reasons none of them have gotten approved. It is kind of hard in this ward, because we do have a number of people who are too elderly to physically do Primary, but we have a lot who aren't. When the bishop got up today and announced "we have no ward business" I just about screamed "Why not? I need a nursery leader". Then after church one of the counselors told me that they had called some people this morning to various things we need, but he didn't tell me why they didn't sustain them in sacrament meeting. I'm still a little upset about that.
And, finally, I got a call tonight from a parent who was worried because her husband had been sitting on the daughter's class when the teacher mentioned the law of chastity. Then, when the kids asked what that meant, the teacher replied "it has to do with sex". Great, now I have teachers talking about sex in Primary. Granted, the kids are 11 and most of them should know about it. But the lesson was on the temple and I know that it specifically didn't mention sex or the law of chastity. We just don't talk about that in Primary--they like to save it for Young Women and Young Men (and for parents to discuss with their kids). Now I get to talk to the teacher and hope it doesn't blow up into one of those annoying "big deal" things that have already happened several times during my tenure as president. Now that I have a child, I can understand why parents tend to get a little crazy, but I still hate to get stuck in the middle of things like that.
So yeah, I kind of have a love/hate relationship with my calling. I would hate to get released, and I probably won't until we move. But at the same time I keep wondering what would happen if I submitted my own name for pianist or nursery leader...
Comments
I can answer that one: then you'd be Primary President AND Nursery Leader (maybe pianist too, if you have a small ward). :)
Don't take the staffing challenges personally - it's just the nature of Primary (to always have staffing vacancies to fill).
I can sympathize with you. My mom was PP for years and we were recently chatting about it. My sister just married a guy who told about a time his mom was PP and they had trouble getting callings filled (sort of perpetual with Primary, I understand). She is a GREAT LADY and isn't afraid to speak up. One day she told the bishop that if she was sick of getting the leftovers and that if she didn't get this person, this person, and that person, to hold callings in the Primary, she wasn't going to show up the next Sunday. And she was serious. I think he got the message. I hope he did. Primary is, unfortunately, one of those organizations that tends to be overlooked or given leftovers more often than it should because, hey, we're just rehabbing people, not teaching the youth of Zion, right? (Said tongue-in-cheek.) When TexDad was a counselor in the bishopric over Primary, I can vouch he really advocated getting teachers in there and getting it staffed. I get mildly irritated that it's not given more priority, and your post makes me realize it hasn't just happened in the wards we've lived in. Hmph.
As for the general frustration, that was another thing Mom and I were chatting about. There'd be Sundays, she said, where she'd just sit in the car when we arrived home after church. We'd all come in the house, and she'd sit out there for a few minutes, calm down, then come in (sans her stuff) and carry on.
As far as sex and primary goes, a few weeks before my release, Mattias (who is three and whose mom is RS Pres) announces to all of sharing time that his mom has a baby in her "cause of sex and stuff, i guess." So there you go--a mother's proudest moment.