We recently switched to the dreaded afternoon church schedule. Since the Austrians have a strict lunchtime schedule we don't start church until 1:30. When we didn't have kids, late afternoon church wasn't so bad. We got to sleep in, have Belgian waffles for breakfast, and I had plenty of time to finish up the final details of my Sunday School lesson. However, Ezra, like most toddlers, is not a big fan of late church, especially with Sacrament Meeting last.
Luckily Ezra has some amazing Nursery teachers and he loves the first two hours, but when it comes to the last hour he doesn't have much patience. Usually Sacrament meeting consists of Ezra and I going in and out every 5 minutes. I've been bringing books, cars, snacks, and crayons, but nothing seems to do the trick. He would prefer to climb the stairs in the hallway or run up and down the aisles, but I think that might not send him the right message.
I realize that I'm being a bit of a wimp considering other families in my ward that have 3+ children, but if any of you have ideas on how to survive late church please share! Also if you have advice for helping 32-year-old husbands that get hungry and cranky during afternoon church, that advice would be welcome as well. And if you want to just tell me to suck it up, that's okay too.
15 comments:
First, this picture is ADORABLE!
Second, I think Keith needs to steal some snacks from EZ during that 3rd hour! Good Luck!!!
Nursery? I thought you had to be 18 months for that? If they are letting him in early then I have to say LUCKY YOU! At least you only have one hour to deal with. lol.
Tell Keith to suck it up. Try being pregnant and having to miss lunch!
I hear you! Late church is NOT fun at all with little kids! Such a CUTE picture of Ezra!
The only church advice I have is NOT to let them play or climb or run when you do need to take them out. We have never let Freddy off our laps when we have needed to take him out for being loud or obnoxious and let me tell you they learn fast (and young) that sitting in sacrament with the books, little toys and snacks that mama brings is MUCH more fun than sitting in the foyer on your dads lap watching all the other kids run around.
It can be hard the first few times (and loud) BUT in my experience they learn really quick where they'd rather be during that 3rd hour. We RARELY if ever have to take Freddy out. I realize he is much older than Ezra but Freddy wasn't too much older than him when he finally started sitting through church just fine :)
Good luck with the husband thing I have no advice for you on that front.
Oh dear. You have my deepest condolences. Afternoon church is the epitome of a test of faith with young kids. I hate it. We just switched from it. Thanks goodness!
Good luck!
when levi was 2ish and we had afternoon church I think we tried something new almost EVERY sunday. it mostly in involved inventive ways to try to get him to take a nap so that he would be somewhat reasonable for the rest of it. hahaha, oh not fun. our longest run of success involved biking to church so that he could sleep in the bike trailer and then we'd wheel it in to the primary room. what a mess.
Get some smarties! That'll get you a few minutes of peace. Sorry about your church time. When Jack was that age we had church at 1:00 w/sacrament meeting last. He either slept or we were out in the hall. When I take Ty out we go in the same classroom every time and I sit him in the same chair so he knows that it's not fun to go out. Good luck!
I just realized that they probably don't have smarties in Vienna. I can send you some. :)
Ugh ours is at 1 now, too, but luckily sacrament meeting is first...oh wait, no, because that is exactly when Joshua is ready for a nap. And he has never been good at sleeping in our arms. so far this year we have succeeded by lucking out with a nap before church, leaving church after sacrament meeting (yeah I know, you don't have that option), and having him stay home from church sick.
He has a fascination with trains right? Have you tried bringing some train toys? What if you sit on a side aisle and trap him in?
First of all, he is still adorable and second of all, EVERYONE goes through this. My MIL calls it "Mormon Baby Syndrome". When my kids were little I remember wondering why we even bothered to go to church since we spent so little time actually listening to anything. He is still just little and his behavior is so normal. I think Amy is right about making it more pleasant in Sacrament meeting than out in the foyer.
I think the Swedes in some of the branches I was in had a good plan. Before Sacrament meeting you could find all the pregnant women and the little kids in the kitchen having a snack. In your case, you might want to have Keith take him for the snack to tide him over as well. :)
I noticed with Jordan that there was a time limit that he could deal with. At first it was short and the rest of Sac mtg wasn't much fun but the older he got, the longer his time limit. At one point I can remember he would predictably start acting up at exactly 1 hour into the meeting. The last 10 minutes were horrible and if the meeting went overtime...Ugh. Ezra will do better as he gets older and in the meantime you just have to hang in there and do the best you can.
Some special thing might interest him if he doesn't play with it any other time than church. Some kids respond well to rewards so perhaps if he can sit relatively still for X number of minutes (show him on a watch how long it is) then he might get a special treat when he gets home. ya just gotta keep trying to see what works best and expect that it will change at any moment. Also, I've heard of people who "played church" at home. the kids had practice time sitting still for a while in their play and got better at it.
Good luck. Remember it will pass and just keep plugging away.
Candy! For both of them! and seriously, he is soooo stinkin cut!
LOVE that picture.
Oh he is soooo cute! All I can say about the late church is I'M SORRY!
I don't have any advice, but I do appreciate your admission that you might also use a snack, mostly because in my grad school, I seem to be the only one who can't go three hours without eating. And I need to find quieter snacks.
Yes. I vote for candy too!
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