As we walked into church this morning, I noticed the Mom of a little boy I had in my nursery class last year. She didn't seem to recognize me, but I remembered her son. The only child with a wheat allergy who brings his own snack sort of sticks out. He was a sweet boy, too. Anyway, she was by herself, and mentioned that her little guy was home with Daddy... he just doesn't handle the whole morning (SS & Service back to back) very well. At our church that can be 4 1/2 hours, so it is understandable. Many of Baby Bear's classmates only come to one service, as they live close enough that Mom and Dad can swap duty Sundays for sunday school and then bring the child to nursery during service, or many have given up Sunday School altogether for a while. Living 25 minutes away, we sort of make Baby Bear "suck it up", to quote someone who refuses to do that (siu) with a certain kids' act that she finds annoying. We drop her off at 9:15 a.m., or shortly therafter, and then pick her up after the service ends... around 12:30 ish. Except on the weeks I work in her class. I remember how shocked I was at the beginning of this year when she was assigned to my toddler room. She was not yet 1 year old! My Baby was not old enough to be in that room!
Then it dawned on me that the kids I worked with had been younger when they entered the class, but I did not get to see them grow up that whole year, since I did not start volunteering until January. I thought Baby Bear (and (, for that matter) might do well with a break from Mommy, but the age group really was best for her. Now I'm glad we are in there together. Just when she is beginning to tire of being in nursery, Mommy shows up. And while she is generally a happy camper, playing with her friends, fighting over toys, and patting the Bible (or lifting it at the end of the B-I-B-L-E song), during those edgy moments when one tired toddler overreacts to another, Mommy is there. Plus, it dawned on me recently that it is good for her to see Mommy holding and plaing with other children. While she is curently the "center of our world" at home, when God does allow us to have another one, she will need to learn to share her Mommy,Daddy, and toys.
p.s. While all the kids seem to like the toy piano in our nursery, I've noticed that Baby Bear and the son of a drummer in a Christian band seem to like it the most. I guess having a piano around for her to bang on does peak that natural curiosity... even if Mommy isn't quite a professional musician.
p.p.s As I sit and watch the wiggles with bear, it doesn't grate me quite as badly as Friday night... but I can see why certain people choose to steer their kids minds away from such randim silliness. I'm not sure that most kids need this much help being silly.
7 comments:
Personally we've always been the one's to let our kids just "deal with it". I've noticed alot over the years that the kids who have the hardest time adjusting to changes from their normal routine are the ones whose parents tend to be overly "freaky" about things. How do you convince a parent that it's okay for a child to be cranky and tired in the nursery for awhile in order for them to get used to it. It's certainly not gonna kill them. As a long-time preschool teacher, I can tell you that there aren't a whole lot of things more frustrating that a 3 or 4 year child ,who has become stronger, louder, and more defiant than an upset infant or toddler, that has been completely allowed to stay with mom and dad and then suddenly mom and dad want them to have social or eduation time. Wow, that can be ugly!! You have to be consistent from the beginning about how you leave them... don't be wishy-washy and let them know you're not sure, or they'll pick up on it and feed off of it. I think when you build your life around your child, ( for example by going to different services so one of you can stay home with the baby or toddler) you teach them that you've built your life around them and they will then act that way. If you teach them that there are certain things expected of them from the very beginning (sitting in church or spending time in the nursery) they learn to expect that. I know there are exceptions to the rule. Some children are just very sensitive, but I don't think thats the case in most circumstances. Of course, colicky babies are a completely different story. Poor Ruby and Mr. Debonair are about ready to croak right now. They only way the new baby will sleep is by beeing held 24/7.
Okay, I'm done with my judgemental rant for the day. Forgive me, if I've offended anyone!!
hee hee.. no offense here. as crt would say, some kids so need to learn to suck it up, and i'm not talking about the paci. (At this age it needs to be thrown out the car window and told good riddance. We do have one boy who still has his paci tethered to him, and he is also one that struggles with separationg the most.) It's interesting to observe the patterns that develop. And how if one whines for Mommy, or if one's parents come, the others follow suit.
The weeks that I'm not in there, Baby Bear usually does fine without me. If she were in day care she would have to learn to adjust, so I don't think it's unreasonable to get her to adjust to a routine change once a week. There are exception weeks, when she's having a tough time teething, but overall I think she does better than the ones who were not put in nursery at all when they were younger.
at my church the kids are with us during service, and at times it can get extremely loud. But always the speakers, and bishops are understanding. There are squabbles amongst sibblings, little ones crying because of lack of nap, or hungry, or just plain can't find something to make them feel better. 3-4 hours in one place is no fun even for some adults.
I've heard the background noise of kids in the service described as "holy hubbub". :-)
Wow, 3-4 hours in one service with your children sitting with you is amazing. I would have a hard time sitting that long, let alone my children. Our services last about an hour and then we all go to our Sunday School classes and then there's another service after that, that's identical to the first and second service. At our church the kids 2 and up stay in church until the sermon and then they leave for children's church in the education wing. Starting next fall when the boys go to 3rd grade, they'll be staying with us instead of leaving.
As we go to a VERY small church, and everyone there is related to Husband in some way, they are all pretty used to my kids...but I also don't have to worry about sending my kids into Children's Church. We have no nursery (that I hate) but they only have to sit until the sermon. Somedays that's ok, somedays not... We just try our best..
OH, and I also despise the Wiggles...I have since they used to be just a mini-show and not a full half an hour. The kids on the other hand think they're The Beatles! One can only handle so much of "Rollin' down the sand dunes, Rollin' down the sand dunes, ooh, ahh, whee!"
farm wife- your church sounds so much like hubby's gramma's church! they have a nursery, it's about 5 ft by 12 ft... has 1 set of bunked cribs, 1 rocking chair, and 1 changing table. They have had a baby-boom, so the littlest ones are usually in the service, and the toddlers are in the nursery or downstairs in one of the sunday school partition areas in the basement. (Or they are in the service until they show the need to be removed...)
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