one sunday, my children went to church. dear daughter, who i don't think was ever quite-but still very- as literal as dear son, has been many times and for her it is a very social game. although, for the rest of the day, she will talk about what she what she learned and thumbs through my old, monogrammed scriptures. on these days i realize that her level of maturity is a ways beyond her younger brother. dear son is extremely innocent, intensely curious, soaks up information like a sponge and (just for the record) is still madly in love with his mama. while prepping him for church, i was explaining that even though he will go with, and see, almost all his friends while there, it isn't playgroup with best dress attire. church, instead, should be a calm and quiet time, where people go to listen, learn and get closer to God. "is that north of here?", he asks. this is when i realized that sending him just a few blocks north with friends would be bittersweet. he learned a lot that day. that god isn't bad, everyone has a book of marmen, the people in sacrament didn't glare at him once and why i didn't have a cross that he could wear to church. "sister's wearing jewelry!" it reminded me of watching out of the mouth of babes in my high school seminary class, where you hear from the young children how they think and interpret what they are learning. and at a time where i am realizing that this innocence can't and won't last forever, these babes give me just the right dose of needed medicine.