Moms (and dads) get those little ones to Church – Hf #310

Church with littles in tow can be tough. Worth it, but tough. In this episode we are going to chat about the importance of being in Church as a family and some tips for making it easier. Listen to the Podcast: You can find important links & info below. And don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast in iTunes. Right click here and save-as to download this episode to your computer. Ever since our first set of twins started making all those loud noises that babies do when they "talk", it's been hard. I remember one Sunday, pulling into Church, already exhausted from the Sunday morning scramble. We had hurried around getting 3 year old twins dressed and fed, wrangled 14 month old twins into their outfits, and got my pregnant self semi-put together...and I glimpsed a mom of 6 with older kids...just walking into church. She was holding her coffee and her Bible. And each kid was walking across the parking lot by themselves (NOT in constant danger of being run over). And I know she had her own struggles that day... But man I was so overwhelmed at the moment that I couldn't imagine a day like that coming. I had spent SO many Sunday's feeling so defeated and wondering what the point was anyway. I'm still in the tenches with 6 kids 7 and under, but not nearly as deep as a when we had 5 kids 4 and under ? But I've started seeing the pay off (STARTING to see ?). Moms (and dads), it's worth it. Show up. Model the discipline it takes to get there. Lay out clothes the night before, put oatmeal on the crockpot to be ready, have a snack ready for in between services...make it easier! But.show.up. Bring them to Church so they hear God's Word preached. Let them see believers of all ages worshipping together. And don't sweat the small stuff (preaching to myself here). It'll get easier. It'll get sweeter. But show up. God will take care of the rest ? Training littles:  Some days are awful. They just are. Some days are good. Don't let this discourage you. Make sure no one goes hungry. Start off with a calm morning (and make sure they got enough sleep) If you go to tow services, bring a snack in between! Set the expectation: Make it so they are not happy if they have to be taken out of service. (chocolate chips example) Bring things to occupy little hands. We have special coloring bags, they can draw, take notes, ect. Don't sweat the noise: You are training them. It's good work. Don't give up, even if it feels awkward and hard. And it's probably much louder to you than it is to others. Watch other moms: Many of them are awesome and know what they are doing!! Train outside of church: Go out to eat and talk about expectations. Do quiet reading time at home, ect. And don't give up. It gets easier. I think sometimes we get this idea that if we don't perfectly train them at 2, then they will be hopeless cases by the time they are 8. It's not true. Keep training them. All kids are different and will respond differently. Now that the oldest are 8 and 5, it's so much easier to train them then when we had 4 and 2 year olds. Links:  Follow me over on Instagram Our Sponsor: Get 2 weeks of FREE meal planning from PrepDish.com/Homemaking