Nikolas was just in his third wedding on Saturday. My cousin, Chelsea, just married a man named Chad and they had little Nik as their ringbearer. The first wedding he was in I walked up beside him and he was given a bell to ring so he was happy. The second wedding he was in he screamed at the beginning, I walked beside him up the aisle and then he screamed at the end, so this time we weren't sure what was going to happen as I was not to be walking beside him. The one plus was that daddy was a groomsman and would already be at the front of the sanctuary. 
Mama took careful precautions to make sure everything was just right to give the best chance of him making it up the aisle without me. Fed, check. Potty, check. The key component to my plan though, was gummi bears. I have never been one to bribe Nikolas. I potty trained him with not one bribe. This event, however, I broke my cardinal rule and bribed the child. And guess what? It worked!!! 
Here he is stuffing gummi bears into his mouth from the stash I placed in his pockets. I also gave some to daddy which Nik witnessed. We gave him clear instructions that he would receive those bears after he walked, ran or jumped down the aisle. It was his choice as to how he would make it, he just had to get there was all. 
Hmmmm, now what is my job again?
Our little ringbearer did better than anybody expected! He held his little pillow in one hand and started walking down the aisle and proceeded to pick up the rose petals lining the walkway. Adorable I must say:) Then he casually meandered down the aisle checking everyone out as if he did this everyday. When he made it to the end he sauntered up to daddy who could hear him saying, "help, help" as he was trying to get those last gummi bears out of his little suit pocket. Then he climbed the steps to stand next to daddy who kept feeding him gummi bears. About that time the Pastor started praying and to Tone' and Uncle Johns ( who was also a groomsman) shock and amusement Nikolas walked down the steps before they could grab him and went directly under the praying Pastor and began to pick up more rose petals and crush them. Then, just as quickly, he came back to stand by daddy just as the prayer ended and everyone opened their eyes. After that I came up and got him and his cousin Zachary took him out to the foyer and played until the service was over. Now that he has successfully completed a ringbearer job we are confident in his ability to cope with lots of people staring at him and know he is ready for more, as long as there are gummi bears to be had. At 2 1/2 he has many more prime years of ringbearer cuteness left in him, so if you plan on getting married anytime soon we know the perfect little person for the job:)
Ringbearer for Hire!
1 comment:
I see it as providing your child with substinence while he was on the job! Not a bribe at all! Just one very smart mama who learned from the previous two events that her son needs a bit of food to help him get through the long trek he had before him!
And he did so well - and his cousin was so happy to be able to play outside with him during the wedding!
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