I think you are missing a big difference. From what you have written you are very considerate about other people and make all possible effort to keep the noise to a minimum. Personally, I have total sympathy if your kids let out a few cries.
Actually I can answer that for you. Many parents receive advice to sit in the front. If you are trying to teach your small children about the mass it is better for them to sit up front so they can hear, and see what is going on. If they see and hear the priest and Jesus Himself they automatically become more involved. As a parent it is sometimes way harder to sit in the back than in the front.You don’t sit in the front row do you?What I don’t understand is why parents with kids that they know are teething or will cry a lot or kids who can’t or won’t sit still and they have to keep telling them to stop every 5 seconds, why do they sit in the first, second or 3rd rows in the front of the church??
I never understood that. I understand how kids are and I know they go through different phases etc that’s understandable because kids will be kids, but do the parents have to sit in the very front row when their kids are in those phases? That’s what I see a lot of and never understood. They can’t hear anything so they want to keep others from hearing too?
If my kids were going through those phases I would at least have enough consideration to sit in the back so as not to disturb others.
I think your rule is awesome ! However, I can’t help but think if a kid is very young (like under 2), it is perhaps a bit too strict. Just curous but if you did bring your kids to mass when they were that young, how did you keep them quiet?
I would have responded, but I actually thought everyone knew that and that it was a rhetorical question.
This. It is such a struggle for my husband and I to get to mass every week with all the little ones. It is even harder knowing that some judge our every parenting move.
I agree with you completely! People tend to be very snarky on this forum regarding children, and very out of touch. We are expecting our first, neither Parish we regularly attend has a “cry room” and we are planning to (modestly) ecologically nurse! So I’m sure people will be judging. Pray for them (people who judge and complain are unhappy people) and remember that our children are the future of the Catholic Church, and may just fall in love with the Mass at a young age, if they aren’t relegated to a separate room or the back of Church. We only learn by being in a situation and children as well as adults are sure to make a few missteps.This. It is such a struggle for my husband and I to get to mass every week with all the little ones. It is even harder knowing that some judge our every parenting move.
I really liked what one poster said about praying for forgiveness for the very thing that is bothering us (for example, feeling annoyed and praying for Jesus’ forgiveness when I’ve annoyed Him).Do you have children? as one poster stated, the only behavior we can control is our own. Posts such as these are troublesome because there is no way for any of us who are not there to be able to judge rightly or wrongly what is going on. To post about what is bugging you at Mass without the rest of us being there to see the validity or not should not really be done. If someone at Mass is making too much voice for whatever reason, you can politely get up and move. To post why they might be at Mass because in your judgement they are not paying attention is judgmental. Maybe once you have very small children, you might be much more understanding of others.…So I don’t want to sound rude, or judgemental…but there are some people in my church…who literally…all the do…is come in late, sit down, and read to their children. ← Not an exaggeration. They switch the kids off though, when mom gets tired, they go to their aunt, when she gets tired, they go to their grandparents. They read books about farm animals, and the alphabet, and so forth…My opinion is…why come to Mass if you’re not going to do ANYTHING.(But of course read to your kids) There’s nothing wrong with reading to your kids, but in Mass -.- really? It really annoys me…
I hope you meant “not to be noisy”
No, we’re talking about parents.
No I mean ‘some parents actually teach there kids TO BE noisy’ by setting a bad example.I hope you meant “not to be noisy”
There is no way to judge this situation since none of us were there. Posts about one’s frustrations at Mass for whatever reason whether it is noisy kids etc should not be done, all it does is pit people on CAF against each other. If one is bothered by what happen or not happen at Mass should be taken up with the priest not posted on the internet and then have the rest of us debate each other about the merits or non merits of parenting or badly behaving kids or whatever causing unnecessary fights. If someone is being noisy at Mass and it is bothering you, get up and move yourself, don’t go to Masses where there will be a large number of small children in attendance, pray for that family (what a concept)
I mean, there are great times for recreation, and as a child (but even as an adult, sometimes 
) those “moments of recreation” in life can become rather loud I remember with a smile a quote from a movie in which the Mother Superior of a Carmelite cloistered convent was explaining to a novice that they lived a life of silence and contemplation, but that during the recreation sometimes she had to use the bell to call the attention of the sisters 
No one here is judging every parenting move. Please be assured and an occasional fussy baby or wiggling child is not the concern here. It is the PARENT reading OUT LOUD to their kids about FARM ANIMALS at Mass. I write in caps not to shout but to truly emphasis that parents who have to deal with an active child/fussy baby are NOT at issue here. I write this with great love and appreciation for all those who have small children. The good parent is one who knows that reading out loud at Mass–loud enough that others can hear–just to keep a child entertained is not the same thing as a harried parent dealing with hyper active kid. We who sit around you know the difference. I love to see small children at Mass because Jesus said he welcomed the little ones. What I don’t like to see is PARENTS pandering to their little darling’s every whim, disrupting Mass for all around them, instead attempting to direct their child’s attention to the Mass. It is perfectly permissible for parents to leave their little ones at home with a responsible person if they simply cannot be controlled. However, no one should feel they cannot bring their small children to Mass–that’s not the issue here at all.This. It is such a struggle for my husband and I to get to mass every week with all the little ones. It is even harder knowing that some judge our every parenting move.
As I’m reading, you’re suggesting that families can’t go to mass together and children aren’t welcome.
