LuLu's 1st Communion Retreat

Last Saturday, on an otherwise wet and miserable April morning, we had the honor of accompanying LuLu on her 1st Communion Retreat.

It began with the kids giving a brief presentation on things they valued in the world. Lu chose the world itself, using 'Earth' as her theme.







The parents were then pulled aside into the school cafeteria to meet with Fr. Spitz. He gave a very nice speech that had two main points. First, that the celebration of 1st Communion often threatens to overshadow the even itself, much as a wedding reception is better attended than the ceremony it celebrates. Secondly, that it is the father that is the most important example in a child's life. Right or wrong a mother is *expected* to "do the right thing", and so is often ignored, whereas society views a father as more of a wild card. Therefore, the child is more impressed when a father walks the line and provides a good example. A double standard, but none-the-less true.

From there it was back to the church. We practiced escorting her down the aisle before returning to the cafeteria to craft a candle for the ceremony. Having been tipped off about this practice from our experience with YaYa's Communion, we thought ahead and bought some religious stickers to decorate it.



Sometimes, it comes in handy to have a pseudo Martha Stewart as a Mom :)

I did not, alas, contribute much to the design, although I did call attention to a flaw in the ribbon. And I did pick out and buy the stickers, so there. But I was sick of never being in photos, so I asked Lu to snap one of me.



Purty, no?






Here's Lu and the finished product:





Then it was on to a slide show featuring the 1st Communicants, which sadly only included one shot of Lu (as she attends only as a religious ed student and the shots were taken during the school day). That upset her, but after a joke or two she lightened up. We sat down to a pot luck lunch and then headed out.

I can't wait to see LuLu on her First Communion day! I'm already so proud!