Sunday, January 4, 2009

How to Tell if Your Church is "Kid Friendly"

I am very thankful that our church is "kid friendly." We don't send the kids out after children's time and for the most part, the low rumble that comes with the numerous kids in our congregation is not only accepted but welcome. Here are some signs that your church is "kid friendly." (in no particular order)
  • No one minds that your 4 year old son takes off his shoes and socks five minutes into the service.
  • Peppermints are provided in the foyer and no one stands guard over them limiting each kid to only one. (Although sometimes I wish we did, but I don't want to be the peppermint guard.)
  • It is perfectly acceptable for your child to run up the aisle (barefooted) to children's time and "slide" into his spot on the floor. It is also acceptable for him to run up the center aisle and slide into his pew. (We did discuss this today and T.S. promises not to make a habit of it.)
  • Your preacher stops in the middle of the sermon to acknowledge the child (usually his granddaughter) that is waving/talking to him.
  • Members of the church tell you that you are being too hard on your kid (when you take them out to discipline) and you should, "just let them be kids." These are the same people that would have never let their kids get away with what you are trying to stop your child from doing.
  • When you get a new preacher, he is often confused about which kids belong to which parents because babies are handed off and kids take turns sitting with their friends regularly.

Is your church kid friendly?

2 comments:

Jen said...

It must be kid-friendly if we managed to grow up in it. Remember all the times we sat in the choir and didn't behave? And that was in college!

Laura said...

Jen--
Aunt Louese was just happy to have us singing, they would have let us do anything!