Babs has been struggling to stay in nursery for the past while. She either wouldn't go, or found an excuse to come out (she's very good with the "I have to go potty" even if it's not true) and not go back, or even just mournfully telling the nursery leader that she wanted her mommy.
But, we weren't sure how long this phase would last (she used to go pretty well), and there was a lot of transition in the leadership, so we just ended up having Babs with us for a lot of church. But two Sundays ago, a new nursery leader was called.
And on her very first Sunday on the job, I dropped Babs off. She directly asked me, "What can we do to help her like nursery?" I told her I had no answer to that, but one thing she could do was not let her leave. Just keep responding all her excuses that she should stick it out a little longer, and that I would come back soon. I gave the same instructions to the music leader, who I work closely with since I play the piano.
When I dropped Babs off though, I immediately saw the problem. She is the oldest in the nursery, by at least a year. (There is one other kid her age whose attendance is currently spotty.) And Babs is a little to a lot nervous of smaller kids. No wonder she wants out every Sunday. (This also leads to questions of what will happen next year with Sunbeams, but we'll solve that problem another day.)
Yet the nursery leader took me at my word, even if there were some tears involved. So Babs stayed the whole time. I told her all the way home how proud I was for doing such a good job of staying in nursery. I guess my message sunk in because she told me she was proud of me for staying at my class too.
