I am having some serious issues with my 2 year old at church. She will not sit in the pew and instead tries to run up and down the isles and only calms down and sits if she is eating fruit snacks, not the most nutritious thing in the world. She'll sit still for chocolate too. I would really like to cut out all the sugery snacks at church but that isn't happening anytime soon. Lacy is quite social and has to say hi to everyone, so she's always trying to move from pew to pew. She's also a performer so she likes to dance in the isles! So Dave and I are constantly going out with her at church. Yesterday was particularly challenging because we forgot to bring books and we only had a couple of baby toys in there. I'm kicking myself for not packing the bag the night before!
Anyway, to further complicate things, I am the ward chorister, so Dave is sitting by himself with both girls for the beginning and the end of church. I know it's expected that young children be a bit restless in sacrament meeting, but sometimes I feel like we're the only family with a kid who is running all over the place! The rest of the kids in church seem to sit nicely with their families (and not all the families have two parents at church every week). Lacy will sit in our pew for maybe 20 minutes, and that's only because she sits with the RS pres while I'm leading the opening and sacrament hymns.
So to those of you who can keep your kids in one place at church-- HOW do you do it??? I feel like everyone is staring at me because my child is unruly. I don't mind people staring at me, but I would prefer it be for positive reasons!
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6 comments:
Good luck with that one. Wish I had something to tell you to fix it, but I don't. My 3 year old is pretty restless. He never gets to sit by the aisle so it is harder for him to escape. Though he has tried to go under the benches. Anyway, please do not feel alone on this one. Sacrament meeting is a struggle for most parents with toddlers. We all get pretty frustrated!! We have a variety of activities--books, coloring, a small baggy with beads and pipe cleaner to string them on, and a shoelace kind of thing with card board shapes with holes in it for stringing through(I found this one at walmart or target in the school supply section, next to the flash cards and other learning products)just some ideas that keep Sam and Sophia busy for the most part. Sam has to be occupied with an activity or he finds trouble! Good luck.
Yesturday we had our stake conference...we were pretty excited because Elder Oaks came for the meeting. Anyway I had brought tons of stuff for Andrew to do but none of it worked. I was out with him twice during the first hour and just when we thought he was going to sit still he wanted to get up and run down the aisle and during Elder Oaks talk. Well Zac then took him out to the car... this has seemed to work with out kids. It is hot here and they would rather sit still then sit in the hot car with dad. I can't do that when I am all by myself with the kids but for some reason they seem to do well when that happens. Don't worry, just like Chanda said, all kids are crazy at that age. Plus every kid has some days that are better then others. Have you tried a I-Spy Bag?
I agree with the comments from Chanda and Joy, your problem is common to all of us. I have tried to collect special books just for Sacrament Meeting, from the church bookstore. We have LDS coloring books, LDS picture books, and books with felt items to put on (one on the Creation and one on Noah's Ark.) These things do help. However, when you do have to take them out, because we all do, one mistake some parents make, is letting their child run around free in the halls. I read in a book once that you should not do this because then they act up just to go run free. The book said you should make the place they are going an unpleasant place so that they will want to go back. So Grant or I take the kid out into a side room or bathroom or outside or wherever and hold them on our lap in a timeout. Then I say, "Do you want to go back with Daddy and play with your toys quietly?" Sometimes it takes a minute or so but it usually works. I don't know, maybe you have already tried this. And I have never been the chorister--that definitely complicates things. Good luck--just trying to help. :)
I've got an idea!!! On family home evenings, do "pretend church" and talk about sitting still and how we think of Jesus, two is still pretty young, but you'd be amazed. Also, having a half an hour to an hour of quiet time for book reading during the week gets them into a rhythm of sitting still. Not that my two year old is great at that. I've been alone with my husband on the stands for a long time, though he's been released and put somewhere else so now he sits with us a few Sunday's out of the month. Pretty much I've learned to relax when my two year old decides to stand in the aisle for a minute, I think, atleast he's entertaining people, and they know what I'm going through. Good luck!
I am with Lu. They just are not capable at 2 to sit quietly for that long of a time. Some personalities may but never any of my kids. They do not bother anybody in the aisle and as long as they are not screaming!! At 3 years more things can entertain like books and coloring. My kids prefer a plain notebook and markers or crayons but my 21 month old wanders so we just sit in the back and try to get something out of church.
I have the same problem with my two year old boy! You are not alone Carolyn! He doesn't want to sit still either. It's hard because at this age you can't easily explain to them that they need to sit still through people saying things that they don't understand!
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