We’re going through a really good phase with our kids in church at the moment, plus our eldest is quite a quiet person and our second tends to copy him a lot, so it looks like we are magical super parents but we are really NOT. We have had some hellish masses and I’m sure we will again when the newborn gets less sleepy. And honestly, we’re just lucky with church – our kids for some reason get out their bad behaviour at different times.

I find it bizarre that the Church Ladies and cross young men seem to think that the parents have the power to magically switch their children off but just can’t be bothered to exercise it. In my experience, parents are excruciatingly and even excessively aware of the noise and disturbance their children are making and are engaged in a constant balancing act of what’s likely to cause the least bother to everyone else. Sometimes correcting a behaviour in the moment will actually cause MORE noise when the child flips out about it. We let our 2yo potter round the pew and talk to herself because that is way less disturbing than her SCREAMING because we had a strict silent shushing policy. If it were that easy to make them still and silent, don’t ya think we’d just do it?

But I always think: if not now, when? There has to be a time when kids are learning by practicing how to behave in church and appreciate it. You can do it from birth or when they’re grumpy teenagers or any time in between, but in my opinion it’s best to just make it part of their life from the very beginning. Otherwise you end up trying to force someone to “boring” church who knows there’s another option and is invested in resisting parental authority, but isn’t small enough to be physically restrained! 🙂

Also, what else am I supposed to do? Leave em home alone?! Not go to church for… well, four years and counting! Forbidding small children from church contributes to the culture of death that says that reproducing women and their children are not part of normal everyday life. If I have to put my life on hold until my youngest child is seven, contraception starts to look like the only solution, doesn’t it?

My husband and I discussed angry church young man all the way home. We’re going to pray for him tonight with the kids. And the family.

We’re going through a really good phase with our kids in church at the moment, plus our eldest is quite a quiet person and our second tends to copy him a lot, so it looks like we are magical super parents but we are really NOT. We have had some hellish masses and I’m sure we will again when the newborn gets less sleepy. And honestly, we’re just lucky with church – our kids for some reason get out their bad behaviour at different times.

I find it bizarre that the Church Ladies and cross young men seem to think that the parents have the power to magically switch their children off but just can’t be bothered to exercise it. In my experience, parents are excruciatingly and even excessively aware of the noise and disturbance their children are making and are engaged in a constant balancing act of what’s likely to cause the least bother to everyone else. Sometimes correcting a behaviour in the moment will actually cause MORE noise when the child flips out about it. We let our 2yo potter round the pew and talk to herself because that is way less disturbing than her SCREAMING because we had a strict silent shushing policy. If it were that easy to make them still and silent, don’t ya think we’d just do it?

But I always think: if not now, when? There has to be a time when kids are learning by practicing how to behave in church and appreciate it. You can do it from birth or when they’re grumpy teenagers or any time in between, but in my opinion it’s best to just make it part of their life from the very beginning. Otherwise you end up trying to force someone to “boring” church who knows there’s another option and is invested in resisting parental authority, but isn’t small enough to be physically restrained! 🙂

Also, what else am I supposed to do? Leave em home alone?! Not go to church for… well, four years and counting!

My husband and I discussed angry church young man all the way home. We’re going to pray for him tonight with the kids. And the family.

I did.

Nice! I really do think that would be a good idea to explore, to create a smaller space for parishioners who prefer silent worship, and accept the noise of families trying their best in the main sanctuary. 🙂

Happy Easter everyone…

Nope

I’m so sorry you experienced this! But it sounds like you won’t be scared off either!