We have been utilizing the free nursery St. Lukes provides each Sunday that we go to church. When Conor was a newborn up to about 5 months I could take him into church and he'd either sleep or be pretty easy to keep calm just bouncing him on the knee. Then he hit the stage where sitting still just wasn't an option, and being quiet even less so.
Now that he's two, I've been thinking it's time to get him into church for short periods of time so that he can start to understand a little bit about what we do in church and that it is a time to sit still. I've been more nervous about doing this then I have been about potty training. What if he acts out and makes noise? Everyone we know will be annoyed by him and who knows what they'll think of us. That's been my thinking even though I know that everyone expects kids to make a certain amount of noise. Even I don't mind when other people's kids make noise and act out a little. I just don't think it should be my kid, ha ha. In the last month we've brought him into church a couple times, just before communion for the remainder of the service. He's been really good, a bit grabby of the hymnal and BoCP which is to be expected with no other toys to play with. When it's time to sing his ears perk up and he's focused on the choir up front probably because their voices are so powerful. It's live music for him, and that's a cool thing even if it isn't the fun pop music that he's used to from the radio. He nearly started clapping after a couple songs today but stopped when he saw that no one else was clapping. He did get a few chuckles from some people when he said "amen" a few seconds after everyone else after the Lord's Prayer.
So, I plan to keep bringing him over from the nursery just before communion. That's about 15-20 minutes of adult church time, and just one more sign for me that my little guy is growing up into a little boy!
Now that he's two, I've been thinking it's time to get him into church for short periods of time so that he can start to understand a little bit about what we do in church and that it is a time to sit still. I've been more nervous about doing this then I have been about potty training. What if he acts out and makes noise? Everyone we know will be annoyed by him and who knows what they'll think of us. That's been my thinking even though I know that everyone expects kids to make a certain amount of noise. Even I don't mind when other people's kids make noise and act out a little. I just don't think it should be my kid, ha ha. In the last month we've brought him into church a couple times, just before communion for the remainder of the service. He's been really good, a bit grabby of the hymnal and BoCP which is to be expected with no other toys to play with. When it's time to sing his ears perk up and he's focused on the choir up front probably because their voices are so powerful. It's live music for him, and that's a cool thing even if it isn't the fun pop music that he's used to from the radio. He nearly started clapping after a couple songs today but stopped when he saw that no one else was clapping. He did get a few chuckles from some people when he said "amen" a few seconds after everyone else after the Lord's Prayer.
So, I plan to keep bringing him over from the nursery just before communion. That's about 15-20 minutes of adult church time, and just one more sign for me that my little guy is growing up into a little boy!
