See? I told you I wouldn't raise a heathen!

Brigid was finally baptized this weekend, and I feel bad for her. Not because she was baptized (I may not go to Mass as often as I should, but I’m not that much of a lapsed Catholic…), but because it was the first big event in her life that would have been cause for celebration, if we could have celebrated properly. Unfortunately, since we need to keep her away from germs as much as possible, it wasn’t an option. We couldn’t make the Baptism a part of the regular Mass, and we couldn’t participate in a group ceremony. We couldn’t invite other people to the Baptism, or have a real party for her after the fact. We were in, we were out, and that was that. I know that she won’t remember this, and I know the point should be the Baptism itself, not how many people were there or what we did after, but I can’t help but feel she was a little cheated. What happens (way) down the road, if we have another kid who doesn’t have to be as protected? Will Brigid wonder why we didn’t make as much over her big day? And how long will this have to go on? Will there be other events that we can’t celebrate because she shouldn’t be around too many people? I know we can’t keep her isolated forever, of course, but I don’t know where we draw the line. I’m sure somewhere down the road, I’ll laugh at myself for stressing out over stuff like this, just like I laugh now that we were ever worried about the kid’s appetite (seriously, she can put some formula away…I’m interested, and a little nervous for my budget, to see how it goes when we switch her to real food…). Lucky for me (not so much for her…), our next tour of area doctors’ offices starts this week, so maybe I can finally get some insight on what to expect.

Oh well, moving on. Like I said before, the Baptism was short and sweet and enjoyable, despite the fact that we practically had to swim to and from the church. Have I mentioned that I miss the days when it never rained in Georgia? If I’d wanted to spend my winter months in gray gloom instead of sunshine, I could have stayed up north! Anyway, some highlights of the ceremony…

1) Brigid was a little fussy at first, since we had to sit and listen to a reading and a couple of prayers, and she hates sitting. Once we stood for the actual Baptism, though, she was perfect. She didn’t even cry when the water was poured on her.
2) She did, however, pass gas loud enough for everyone to hear.
3) The deacon called me Kara. Twice.
4) When anointing her head with oil, he referred to it as ‘the odor of Jesus’. Odor? Really? There’s not a better word choice there than odor?
5) There was cake!

All in all, I’d say it was a pretty successful day.