Kids and Church

When Connor was a newborn, I had a hard time motivating myself to go to church. Part of this was the sheer act of getting both of us ready and out of the house at an early hour seemed next to impossible. The other part was, I spent all my time sitting in a crying room nursing him and really not paying much attention to the sermon. In those first few months, church seemed pointless to me.

As Connor got older, going to church got easier. In Scotland, kids can't go to the nursery until they are 9 months old. But, the crying room was outfitted like a nursery. So, I just had to stick him in one of the various bouncy toys and I could happily listen to the sermon...or talk to other moms in there.

Once Connor graduated to the nursery, my nerves got the best of me. I would sit in service and wait for them to bring him up to me. Yep, in our church, they bring your screaming child into the service to you. Fun times. And Sunday after Sunday it happened. But people told me to be persistent and he would eventually get it. And he did. After about 3 months, he no longer had to be brought up to me.

Then we moved. The church we go to has a strict policy about sick kids in the nursery, which I understand. However, every kid out there always seems to have a cough or runny nose or something. And because I am scared of the wrath of the nursery workers, I seem to stay home from church more than I would like. And the thing is, Connor has never even had to be on antibiotics. Sure, he picked up hand, foot & mouth disease at one point, but that has been it. But with every drip of the nose or slight cough, I scare myself into staying home from church.

Its just the phase of life I am in, I realize. But sometimes, just sometimes, it seems having kids makes going to church difficult. All the sickness and no real options for when they are only slightly sick, plus the kicking and screaming every week when I take Connor to the nursery makes church going hard. And I know, its a phase. But I too like to have my tank filled up (so to speak) and these days i find myself not getting it at much as I would like.


** On a side note, it always is nice to talk to other moms and realize I am not the only one out there that struggles with these things.