Church Etiquette and My Children

Since it is Sunday, I thought I would write a little about my children's church etiquette. Over the years, this has varied like the personalities of each one of my 5 boys. I've had the sleeper, the color book kid, the kid who loved the daycare/school program, and now, the kid who just won't go to church. Well, that's not entirely true. This last child has now been attending the service for about 2 months, due to being armed with a bag of crackers, bottle of water, and an army of guys. But prior, I don't think I went to church for about 8 months because frankly, it was just too distracting. Not only did I feel a little sorry for anybody who was unfortunate enough to be sitting within the same 30 seat radius, but I felt sorry for myself. It would start about 2 blocks away from the church when he would notice the roof of the building. The crying and screaming "NO!" would commence. He would cling to his booster chair as I would be pulling on his legs and trying to be cordial and greet others as they walked by, smiling all the while. My husband or I would then hoist him over our shoulder and carry him in. Amongst crying, grabbing, latching on, and screaming at the daycare workers, we would try to soothe him and encourage happy participation in his age-appropriate program. He didn't buy it. The other boys caught on soon enough and all were asking if they could skip out of their classes. I decided home church would be in order till they graduated from high school. Well, we have once again ventured out to worship in public. I hope everyone can take pity on us and be understanding when my child wails out during a meaningful prayer or passes gas during the sermon. After all, at least we got him in there.

Finding the Joy: It always feels good to get an understanding look from someone who's been there.