I sit and watch all the young parents struggle with their little ones during sacrament meeting. I feel for them. I remember those days. Only, much of the time, I was alone because Mark was either in a Bishopric, a Bishop or on the High Council. I think many of our past wards thought I was a single mother.
The kids that get me, though, are the ones who SMILE while their parents cart them out of the chapel. They are still yelling to make sure they get taken out, but I see that little smirk on their faces. I can't help but wonder if they are going off to be disciplined or off to "hall play land". I think I know the answer by the look on their faces. It's amazing that a 2 year old is THAT smart and will actually SMILE while he's screaming on his way out.
But, then there's the kid who went up the aisle a few weeks ago with his dad holding his left hand and his right hand over his bum saying, "no spanks!" It's not often I get a good giggle on High Council Sunday.
If you're one of those struggling young parents, I will say to you that it gets better. When my kids hit about 5 or 6, they suddenly stopped having a pew riot every Sunday. We still had our moments, but I had pretty much won the war.
We made it AWFUL to go to the hall. I mean, AWFUL!!!! Our first line of defense was into the hall and onto our laps. No talking. No reading books. No playing games. They sat on our laps and did NOTHING. If that didn't work (usually because there is a party going on out there), station number two was into an empty classroom on our laps in the same position.
And, if THAT didn't work, we pulled out the BIG GUN! THE CAR SEAT!!! We headed to the car and strapped them in. Usually, that started a melt-down. Well, I don't want to listen to it, so I would stand outside the car with my back to the window enjoying the gentle (HA!) rocking motion caused by the melt-down going on in the car.
Every minute or so, I'd open the door and say, "Are you ready to go back in?" If I got an escalation of the melt-down, I'd just shut the door and turn around again. After a couple of rounds, I would get a sniffling and gasping, "yes".
The bishopric of one ward we were in would snicker when they saw us leave, car keys in hand. They knew what was coming and in a twisted way, it amused them!
As they got older and too big for the car-seat trick, I borrowed a trick from a friend. I take them to an empty classroom or end of the hall (down by your bishop's office is pretty quiet) and I set them on a chair facing the wall. If they are really in hot water, I have been known to make them put their forehead against the wall. Talk about BORING! I mean, their "I Spy a Nephite" book is in the chapel and they are on the hall staring at the wall - a point I usually try to make to them.
So, my tip for you is to be firm, be boring as all get-out in the hall, and be aware that your little darling might be screaming 15 times in an hour in Sacrament meeting because he knows it's better on the other side... Your job is to make sure that when you go through those chapel doors, that it's the worst place they could possibly be.
The kids that get me, though, are the ones who SMILE while their parents cart them out of the chapel. They are still yelling to make sure they get taken out, but I see that little smirk on their faces. I can't help but wonder if they are going off to be disciplined or off to "hall play land". I think I know the answer by the look on their faces. It's amazing that a 2 year old is THAT smart and will actually SMILE while he's screaming on his way out.
But, then there's the kid who went up the aisle a few weeks ago with his dad holding his left hand and his right hand over his bum saying, "no spanks!" It's not often I get a good giggle on High Council Sunday.
If you're one of those struggling young parents, I will say to you that it gets better. When my kids hit about 5 or 6, they suddenly stopped having a pew riot every Sunday. We still had our moments, but I had pretty much won the war.
We made it AWFUL to go to the hall. I mean, AWFUL!!!! Our first line of defense was into the hall and onto our laps. No talking. No reading books. No playing games. They sat on our laps and did NOTHING. If that didn't work (usually because there is a party going on out there), station number two was into an empty classroom on our laps in the same position.
And, if THAT didn't work, we pulled out the BIG GUN! THE CAR SEAT!!! We headed to the car and strapped them in. Usually, that started a melt-down. Well, I don't want to listen to it, so I would stand outside the car with my back to the window enjoying the gentle (HA!) rocking motion caused by the melt-down going on in the car.
Every minute or so, I'd open the door and say, "Are you ready to go back in?" If I got an escalation of the melt-down, I'd just shut the door and turn around again. After a couple of rounds, I would get a sniffling and gasping, "yes".
The bishopric of one ward we were in would snicker when they saw us leave, car keys in hand. They knew what was coming and in a twisted way, it amused them!
As they got older and too big for the car-seat trick, I borrowed a trick from a friend. I take them to an empty classroom or end of the hall (down by your bishop's office is pretty quiet) and I set them on a chair facing the wall. If they are really in hot water, I have been known to make them put their forehead against the wall. Talk about BORING! I mean, their "I Spy a Nephite" book is in the chapel and they are on the hall staring at the wall - a point I usually try to make to them.
So, my tip for you is to be firm, be boring as all get-out in the hall, and be aware that your little darling might be screaming 15 times in an hour in Sacrament meeting because he knows it's better on the other side... Your job is to make sure that when you go through those chapel doors, that it's the worst place they could possibly be.
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1 comment:
Oh yeah! It SO works.
Of course there are those times that a parent does have to "pinch" the baby to have the excuse to get out of sacrament meeting. Just remember the traditional song sung at Christmas time by a particular Brother that used to be in our ward ;D I couldn't take it one more year. Blaming it on the ppd hormones!
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