Sunday, April 18, 2010
mysteries
there is a young family in our ward that catches my attention every sunday. they are a very nice couple-both kind of quiet, 3 kids under 3 years old. pretty stereotypical, but every sunday brother whatshishead gets up right after sacrament is passed and takes his non crying 18 month old daughter out of the chapel. he is gone for 15 or 20 minutes and comes back into the chapel with her asleep, cradled in his arms. every sunday without fail this plays out. i just wonder what the deal is. not that i dont think its ok for the dad to take the kids out, but why is it always him? most people leave the chapel if the kid is being disruptive-why are they taking a reverent child out? things that make you go "mmmmmmmmm..."
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I bet it has something to do with the child's nap schedule. Dad probably takes the baby into a darkened room and has a special hold and rock that puts the child out. Maybe he is always the one to do it because he's trying to give his wife a much deserved break on the weekend when she has them all week. Just a guess. 3 kids under 3 has got to be tough!
ReplyDeletei bet you are right! i never considered that, but its a pretty obvious conclusion. despite not being a mother, i have been involved with tons of nap times. you would think i could have figured it out. i have never seen anyone handle it quite like that-the kids i have known always just zonk out in church.
ReplyDeletemy guess would also be that it's nap time. and the dad probably can handle one child better than two. that's why mom stays in the chapel with the other two.
ReplyDeleteWe did something similar for awhile. Our very rowdy 18 month old son would become a terror about 1/2 hour after we sat down (he later grew out of the 1/2 hour - now it's 7 minutes). But we also found that if he fell asleep in church, he'd usually sleep a full hour. So we'd come in a half hour early, get our bench, and I'd take him out and rock him to sleep. That usually worked well, and he'd sleep all through sacrament meeting.
ReplyDeleteI suspect they are doing something like that.
As for why HE is doing it, I think some guys feel that it's an act of chivalry to take the kid out when they act up, so the mom can stay and listen. I think I've heard a GA quote on that once, but I don't know for sure. I try to do that when I can, though, and I know my wife appreciates it.
I'd also like to get some pointers from the folks in your ward who have kids just zonk out on their own. Ours don't go quietly - it's mass vocal pandemonium that ends in unconsciousness. Weeeeeeeee!!!
Chas