Church Nurseries

There is a sign outside the nursery in our church, asking the nursery workers to be there waiting for babies at the start of the service, "so that their parents aren't distracted."

I hugged Jasmine so tightly when I read that. May she never be seen as a distraction to overcome.

She and I stay in the sanctuary during worship...Josh's dad or mom usually holds her for it because they love the time with her. As soon as she gets antsy, I take her out. There's a "nursing mother's room" that pipes in the service, so that used to work well. Unfortunately Jasmine's outgrown the toys in there, so spent about a half hour in there until she got tired of it and wanted out (after my telling her not to carry around the garbage can!) So we walked around the halls and foyer for the rest of the longer-than-usual service.

I've brought her in to the nursery a couple times, staying in there with her. She likes to be with me (how long until she can't wait to be with her friends and not want to have me in her line of sight??) But that wasn't an option today, since she has a bit of a runny nose (likely allergies or because of teething...they're almost through, and then she's done 'til her 2-year molars!) so she just wandered around the halls for the time until the service was done.

Sure, there are times I wish I could sit and hear the sermon. But I don't want to rush this time. She loves being with her mama, and I don't want to do anything to make that end sooner than it needs to. I know she'll grow up and be independent, so I'm going to love this time as long as I can :)

It's funny. I used to work in the nursery in church...I loved babysitting as a teenager! But that's just it...it's babysitting :) Not that there's anything wrong with babysitting, but it isn't a time for kids to learn about God. Not when they're 6 months old and are let to play with toys that are different from the ones they have at home!

The other thing that keeps me away, is that with my youngest few brothers, they always seemed to get sick mid-week. Other moms would bring their kids to nursery with runny noses, not thinking anything of it, and Jacob or Benjamin would get sick. Then it would go through our family, and we'd all miss school for a day or two, and possibly church the next week.

Our church does a great job of sanitizing toys after a child has chewed on it, but they can't get all of it! I'm sure more than one toy has been in more than one child's mouth during one service, before the nursery workers could clean it!

And that's why I don't put Jasmine in the nursery :)