Babs attends the same preschool as Kiddo did. One of the reasons I chose it was because although it was sponsored by a church, the religious aspect was very low key, just prayers said before snack and an actual Christmas program. Two years later, with a different pastor and a different preschool director, there is the bi-monthly chapel time.
Being who I am, I sit in on chapel time, because I want to know what is being taught to my daughter. The first time was a rather benign story about Moses and manna, that contained way more detail than was needed for a bunch of preschoolers. When we quizzed Babs about what they talked about, she replied "A story about Moses." Which one? "They were in the desert, and food came from the sky?" as if in the retelling she thought about how preposterous it sounded, and needed verification that such craziness had actually been told to her. We assured her it was a true story. Food did just appear while the Israelites were wandering in the desert.
The next time, the pastor talked to them about water, and how it can quench our thirst, and clean us when we're dirty. Then she showed them a small basin of water, that looked an awful lot like a medium sized metal mixing bowl. As she held it up for all the children to see, she proudly announced, "This is the baptismal font!"
I think I breathed out very fast, and hopefully quietly. I was totally unprepared for that announcement. She (the pastor) then proceeded to talk about the tradition of baptism, that many of the children may already be baptized, and that "Jesus was baptized by... I mean in, the River Jordan." And I suddenly knew our Family Home Evening topic for the next week.
Babs has never mentioned this event in her description of preschool. For all I know she was oblivious to the entire event. But I will keep attending chapel time, and keep making sure that at the end of the day, my four-year old hears from me what we believe.
(And in the retelling, I am always grateful that this didn't happen with Kiddo, who knows what she would have told the pastor in response to that announcement.)
