Striving for a Reverent Sacrament Meeting

Like every parent, some weeks are good, some are surprisingly really good, and others… well, you know.  Today would fall under good. We approach Sacrament Mtg with one big goal: Make it through the block without having to leave.  Some days, like today, that goal is achieved.  So how do we do that?

-We arrive to church early. Since our ward meets at 12:30, this step is easy right now. This gives us a chance to snag a good seat before anyone else gets there. This is very critical in our reverence success. There are many places we discovered are bad seats, by experience. We sit where we are not directly below the freezing AC units, not in the overflow where there is NO AC, not by the exits where people are going in and out (and where we can trip the Aaronic priesthood doing Sacrament…{guilty}) and not by the many, many curtains that are fun to twist in throughout the mtg. We also use the time prior to get drinks, go to the bathroom/change diapers, and get some wiggles out.

- Snacks. We try to limit them to anything that would not cause a mess should they fall on the floor… and this even rules out the favorite: Goldfish. One little misstep and they are powder. Our snacks vary among fruit snacks, mini marshmallows, pretzels, wheat thins, raisins, and today I tried cheese cubes. (Success!)  I also usually make them wait until after the sacrament, mostly so we don’t run out too fast.

-Since our church is so late, we do a “clean lunch” in the car. This ranges from slices of bread, crackers and cheese sticks, granola bar, dry cereal, water, etc. Something to fill their tummies.

-If we do go in the hall, we try to make it not be any fun. I just stand there until they stop screaming and go back in as soon as it’s appropriate to do so. Unfortunately, when one parent/child combo leaves, the next follows because the child still sitting wants whichever parent just left. Go figure.

- Bag of tricks. This bag has toys that are not played with outside of Sacrament mtg, making them a special novelty and keeps their interest longer. We also rotate them every so often to add to the interest. These are the items in our bag right now:

   *Board Books

               *Bag with crayons and coloring books 

(and pages I copied out of Behold, Your Little Ones)

*Noah's Ark Pillow playset

 *Reverent File Folder Activities

(Courtesy of Grandma)

-Set an example. The girls are getting better at being still for longer spurts during the prayer. They whisper better when we whisper. They will sing occasionally (in their own way) as we sing. Some things we can ask them to do so many times, but seeing us do it helps them get it faster.

We still have many meltdowns and non-ideal moments, but these things have helped to smooth the rough edges J