Trying to go to church with a one year old is....difficult to say the least. It doesn't matter how good our intentions, we always end up sitting in the hallway during sacrament meeting and then one of us takes her home after an hour or so while the other teaches our class. Sometimes I wonder why we even try.
Today, Allie was sleeping when it was time to leave for church. We debated waking her up, but we have had a crazy weekend which has gotten her sleeping schedule completely out of whack. So, in the interest of getting her back on track, we decided to let her sleep. I decided that I would go to sacrament meeting alone and then Nick would come to teach our class after she woke up.
I sat through sacrament meeting alone for the first time in over a year. It was amazing. I was actually able to listen to the speakers without being constantly interrupted by having to chase a toddler down the isle. I was also able to sit back and watch all of the other parents struggle with their kids. I usually don't notice how many kids there are in our ward. There are literally hundreds. Kids are screaming, playing, eating, running, crying, talking...you name it. The kid behind me cried throughout the entire meeting. (seriously, if your child cries for more than a couple minutes take him out in the hall!)
It got me thinking...when will church ever again be about listening to the speakers and feeling the spirit. Right now, we go to church because we know we should. I haven't gotten much out of it in the last year but we keep going as regularly as we can just because we know its the right thing to do.
I really want to teach my kids to be reverent in church. I want them to be able to listen and pay attention and I want them to learn. I have no idea how to do that. I know Allie is only 1 and I can't expect much out of her yet but she is also at the stage where she is watching and imitating every thing that I do. How can I expect her to learn reverence when I let her run the halls during church? I just need to figure out how on earth to get her to sit in my lap for longer than 2 minutes...
Something to work on I guess...
Vanessa,
ReplyDeleteI feel the same way about trying to avoid the "hallway hangout"! It is hard. And William IS watching everything going on and imitating us (and others) in church. I wasn't sure just how much he was learning until a week ago, when he started shouting "All done!" at the end of each speaker and giving a Baptist-style "AMEN!" at the end of each prayer.
I've been trying the custodial closet as a time-out alternative to running the hall. Sure, other parents look at you like you're a freak when you walk into the closet with a grumpy/crying child and shut the door with the lights still off, but I think that's helping William calm down more than running with the foyer pack. And it's kind of fun when it works: you come out and the child actually SMILES as you carry them back into the meeting!
Oh no. Dark closets...am I a Nazi mom? Let me know what strategies end up working for you - I need more ammo!
I had a professor in college say he would take his child into a dark closet during church because it would remove all of the stimulation and calm them down enough to be able to go back to sacrament. He said the hallway play made his kid know that if he acted out, he could go play in the hall. So dark closers are definitely not a nazi mom move
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