I “liked” this post, but a simple like is not enough. My eldest is 16 and my baby is three, with four more in between, so I have been at this a very long time. I’m starting to see the end of the tunnel, but we still have our moments. I used to have a more punitive approach to my little ones’ behavior. No rewards if you have to be removed from church, etc. Now I just give the poor kid a break. She’s three years old. She’s still learning. These days, she sometimes makes it all the way through in the Church. We walk around the perimeter, kissing icons, and swaying to the chant if she gets restless. But this past Sunday, she wasn’t having it. She wiggled to get down and screamed if I tried to thwart her. I took her outside and put her down and she immediately ran to a tree and back. With a beaming smile, she said to me, “Mommy, I just love to run. Look at my legs move!” And she took off again. In a few minutes, I asked her if she was ready to go back and pray. She cheerfully agreed and we went back into the church to pray. We finished the Liturgy in a much better state.
On a side note, there’s a point in the Byzantine Divine Liturgy where there is a procession and the people sing hymn that includes the line, “Now set aside all Earthly cares.” This is a little less than half way through a liturgy that lasts, on average, an hour and 20 minutes, but can no longer. Ironically, this is about the time that my Earthly cares have always gotten restless. It’s a long time for a little one to sit still.
