But I've been sooooooo veeeeeeeery tiiiiiiiiiired. My brain feels like a gobbily gook of mush and I fear I cannot get any intelligent words out. So I suppose these posts will have to wait until my brain solidifies.
However, there is one topic I want to address. I need opinions and experiences.
Should my husband and I take our nearly 16 month old toddler to Midnight Mass this year?
We took him last year, but he was only about 3 months old and slept through almost the whole Mass. I think there was one time Ryan had to take him downstairs because he was fussing. But I nursed him and he was back to sleep. No problems.
This year is a different story. We have a very loud, active and mobile little person on our hands. This is a little church so people will notice a screaming child. My hometown parish is very small so I doubt there will be many other little kids there adding to the chorus of jibber jabber. I also have to sing in the choir, so it will be up to my mom and Ryan (and my brother perhaps) to wrangle Joe.
It seems like it would be too much of a hassle to wake him up and bring him to Mass (which is actually at 11:00 p.m.) I have no idea how Joe would react to being woken up, even though he still wakes up frequently throughout the night. It just seems a little too tricky to me.
But I so want him to go! I know he's too young to really know what is going on, but I just want our whole family there. If Joe doesn't go, Ryan would stay home with him and it just wouldn't be the same. Then I keep thinking to the future, if God blesses us with more children, will it always be this way? I go to Midnight Mass with the older kids while Ryan stays home with the baby? Will I have to wait until all our kids are quite a bit older for us all to go as a family? That just bums me out.
I am a strong believer in bringing babies/toddlers/children to Mass. (You should read this amazing post by Kate Wicker!) I also believe that if they are being too loud and disruptive then it is appropriate to remove them from the situation until they can behave themselves.
I suppose we can just play it by ear. If Joe throws a holy fit when we wake him up then perhaps Ryan will stay with him. We will just wait and see!
So what does your family do? What experiences good and bad have you had when bringing your toddler to Midnight Mass? Thanks for any help you can give me!!!
5 comments:
I think you found your solution in your post - just let Joe hang with Jamie ;).
Seriously though, I'm assuming Jamie's kids will be at Mass - be sure that Ryan and Joe sit near them and the older cousins will be an awesome distraction. We sit near our Goddaughter's family every week - because they need the extra hands with 3 kids and 2 adults :)...we usually keep our goddaughter with us throughout mass and the parents are always grateful.
Oh, and best solution I've observed? Have a food snack for during the "must sit down and be quiet times" but be ready to enjoy the music times when it happens.
Just my two cents - no kids here, so feel free to laugh.
I'm sure Abby will volunteer to stay home with Joe.
With a 2 1/2 year old and an 2 month old (almost, wow...) and our Christmas travel plans I think our "midnight" Mass (at 10 pm) is going to be our only option.
I'm nervous as H-E-double-hockey-sticks about it though... I will probably bring my carrier and wear the 2 month old.
Is 11:00 the only Mass? I think if you have a lot of family there, you will be able to handle Joe at Mass.
As for what we do...we go to the 4:30 p.m. " Children's Mass" on Christmas Eve. Then we have Christmas Eve at Grandma's and Christmas Day at our house. We always have the entire family at Mass...it is just how we have always done it. Exception is the rare illness...or when Dominic was recovering from surgery (tonsillectomy)
I guess as your family grows and Joe is older...another consideration might be if he serves Mass and is scheduled for a particular Mass.
Thank you for the shout out, Maggie.
I went to Midnight Mass alone last year and was miserable. We're going to the family Christmas Eve Mass at 4 p.m. this year. I'll miss the beauty of the midnight service, but I don't want to celebrate alone. I'm sure it will be chaos with all of us there (and all of the other excited children!), but I know my toddler would not make it through midnight Mass. She's not the kind of child who will fall asleep in your arms unless she's sick, so she'd just be awake and cranky. Thomas, however, seems to be my first child who will go to sleep anywhere providing he's close to me and tired. He's only 3 months so I'm sure that could change, but my fingers are crossed! :-)
Merry Christmas!
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