Now? Now I cringe every Sunday morning. Why? Well...
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| Clearly not interested in the Good Word. |
For the past few months we've resigned ourselves to the cry room. For a while the cry room was ok (if watching Mass on a poor quality TV is your thing). But, one of us usually ends up chasing the little man around the entire time. How do you explain to a 13 month old "sit still," "be quiet," "shhhhh"? My kid wants nothing to do with any of that.
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| Left: Worst TV, ever. Right: I want to be out there with the masses! |
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| Doesn't he just LOOK naughty?! Please excuse the poor iPhone photos. However, the blur does accurately reflect the bundle of energy we deal with every Sunday. *sigh* |
I don't want Marcus to learn that if he doesn't sit still, or if he's loud and naughty he'll just stay home. That's no lesson to teach him, especially when there's so much to learn at church.
It's obvious the kid needs a little Jesus. Any and all help on how to tame a tornado for an hour would be more than welcomed.
This post brought me encouragement with the Catholic Church! I'm sorry that he is having such a rough time, but I applaud you for still going and having that interest! I wish I had more help for you, but know that it will only get easier!! All I can think of are Cheerios and maybe a soft sided bible for him to look at! I'll be sending you prayers!
ReplyDeleteHa! Do they have a nursery that he could play with toys in during the service?
ReplyDeleteJackson is hard to deal with in church as well. I bring him snacks and a few quiet toys. It works most of the time, but there have been a few times I've had to take him out as well. I'm sure it will get easier as they get older and get used to the idea of being quiet during church, but it sure is a pain right now. I often miss the times when he would sleep through church, Ha!
ReplyDeleteWow- we go through the exact same situation every (mostly) weekend. I feel guilty when I spend most of mass trying to silently communicate with Ryan so we can figure out how to keep her occupied. We've left her at my mom's house a couple of times and I feel guilty about that too. If you figure out a solution.. LET ME KNOW! :)
ReplyDeleteI can relate to this. especially in the last year. Marissa was an angel in church...until her vocabulary took off. now all she wants to do is talk to people. I do the usual mommy thing and bring snacks, quiet toys, and books for her but that barely gets me thru the readings now. however, I rarely take her out of church. I have spoke to many priests and even our Bishop and they all say the same thing: it is more irratating to watch the congregation look around for the rowdy kid then it is to have a child talk during mass. they would all rather the child and certainly the parents stay in and take what they can from the scriptures and homily then leave. ive noticed that her behavior subsides after a few minutes once she realizes she isnt going to leave the pew.
ReplyDeleteNo nursery??!
ReplyDeleteLOL at "he obviously needs a little Jesus" :))
We don't attend church except for when visiting Lee's family, but at those times I pack a big bag! I bring them hungry and basically feed them for an hour lol. We also pack colors and paper, little toys, etc. They usually like when we stand and sing, but during the other times we shover them full of food while they color :-P
ReplyDeleteWe have a nursery at our church which is really helpful, but I have no idea otherwise what you can do. We have tried it all - snacks, toys, games - it just doesn't work!
ReplyDeleteI completely get this - we havent gone to our church in forever, because Amelia wants to go to "Big Church" with mommy, well that's fine and dandy but then she is a terror and refuses to go down to the kid church...so we just havent gone...sigh...I need to try again this weekend :) He will get better, have faith :)
ReplyDeleteOmg! "The kid needs a little Jesus" funniest line ever! I laughed our loud.
ReplyDeleteI wish I had advice. If he was old enough I would bribe him with candy. But bribing is bad I've been told ;)
I haven't taken mine too church in a long time. She was probably about the same age as Marcus. There was no cry room so I had to take her out of church to the gathering space. She would not sit still. All I can think of would be special books that he only reads at church, snacks, a quiet toy. I remember my mom would let me color. I would sit on the kneeler and use the pew as my table. Not the best idea if it is crowded, but it kept me quiet for an hour. :)
ReplyDeleteUgh! I had to correct my grammar mistake. It should say I haven't taken mine to church instead of "too".
DeleteWe haven't been to church in a few years and I hate that. I want to start going back but it's hard to think how the kids would handle it!
ReplyDeleteOk I could have written this exact post!!! Hayden cannot sit still and he isn't even walking yet! Most of the time I end up going by myself with him too and it's so rough. He makes so much noise and when Robbie is there he can't stand it so he takes Hayden to the back. We don't have a cry room or a nursery so we have no choice. Yesterday we lasted 30 minutes and we seriously LEFT church. Like got in our car and went home. So sad, but I don't know what else to do! It didn't help that he slept in late so he missed his morning nap, but still!
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