Keeping kids happy at church

I whipped out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my daughter during sacrament meeting last week only to be meet with an icy stare from my mother. She did not think an impromptu picnic was appropriate for the chapel or for a worship service.

I hadn’t given it much thought, to be honest. In fact, my train of thought had pretty much ended at, “My daughter is hungry. It’s lunchtime and we have two more hours of church to go. Time to eat.”

But I think there’s merit to my mother’s admonition that certain things aren’t appropriate in a church service – the smell of peanut butter being one of them.

My little interchange with my mother made me think about how it’s difficult for mothers with young children to give the sacrament service the respect it deserves because we are just struggling to get through it.

We bring toys, food and various other distractions into the chapel because it’s the only way to get toddlers to sit through an hour of adult talks. We take our kids out when they cry, but often not quickly enough to avoid one blood-curdling, head-turning scream before we get out into the hall.

And when church lasts three hours, it is going to overlap both meal and snack times. So after the sacrament service, moms basically end up roaming the halls with young children who aren’t old enough for classes, doling out snacks as needed and wondering why they bothered to get dressed up and come to church at all.

I’ve promised my mom no more PB&J in the chapel, but I’m wondering how I can be more reverent in church while also keeping my children behaved, attentive and fed.

How do you get through church on Sundays with children? What activities do you think are inappropriate in a chapel?

Erin Stewart is a regular blogger for Deseret News. From stretch marks to the latest news for moms, Stewart discusses it all while her 4-year-old daughter crams Mr. Potato Head pieces in her little sister’s nose.