Young children and the church.

Probably the best way to describe our family on a Sunday is similar to that of the Simpsons. With Marge insisting to the children during the children moans and groans that it is important that they need to go to church.From reading and speaking to other Mothers about taking their young children to church many encounter the same thing. That is not to say that the children do not believe in God but find it hard to get excited  by the prospect of going to church as they would by other things that they do in the week.

We first started going to a Catholic church 2 years ago when our eldest was 6 and our youngest was 2. The church we initially attended was a very small, simple beautiful church which with one service on a Sunday  and was always  full to the rafters. That usually meant that we were sandwiched between people in a pew or if we arrived later we would be peering through the lobby trying to hear the mass. With our youngest in the 'terrible 2 stage' mass was usually a challenge and lead to her spending most of the mass in the car or walking around the outside of the church.

Last year we moved to another town and now attend another church which is a lot bigger and has 2 services on a Sunday which usually means that we are able to have a pew to ourselves or can sit on a chair at the back where there is box of toys that are youngest can play with.

With our eldest I've found a simple explanation of why we go to church on a Sunday is enough for him to sit quietly through the mass. With his sister we usually encourage her to bring a small cuddly toy with her to choose 'who is able to sing loudly at church'. I also encourage her to sing when  the hymns are being sung and at the end of the service to go up to the statue of Mary and lighting a candle (usually for the intention of a friend or a family member).