S
Sarabande
Guest
I agree. Although my daughter is usually pretty good during mass, she still will sometimes act like a typical 22-month-old. We had to take her out of mass three times yesterday, but I look at it as a learning experience for her. Since we don’t allow her to play or fool around when we take her to the vestibule or outside, she is learning that she isn’t being rewarded by leaving, which I’ve seen too often in cry rooms. It’s easier to teach this when there aren’t 20-30 other children in a room doing what they want and making as much noise as they’d like. And when she is in the church with us, we try to teach her to do what we do, although that is not always successful which is expected since she is so young. She doesn’t understand yet, but she is starting to get that you have to be quiet while in the church. She may not remember it all the time, but she is learning it young.The people in my parish have been supportive of us who have little toddlers. They know its a challenge and sympathize, rather than complain. Also being Eastern Catholic, we mostly sing throughout the Divine Liturgy which muffles the sounds of the little ones. I always carry my son during the Anaphora and take him to the back during Homily because that is when he can be the most disruptive.
As a parent its our responsibility to instill the right training in our children. As part of a greater worshiping community, we should support those who take this direction.
It also helps having a married priest with a toddler of his own. I’d like to see how many parishioners complain about this little toddler making a run for the altar when its the priest’s child