Kids - A thread for bragging, venting and, advice.

[maplesyrup]

So as it turns out, this whole thing might not just be the Sunday school component but a full blown service followed by Sunday school.... I'm pretty sure that would be too overwhelming for them. As of now, my answer is "thanks but no thanks" unless one of the parents lets me know otherwise. I think there is some sort of kiddie thing these kids go to Wednesday nights that is run by the church and I'll keep myself open to that. - If the invitation is extended. 

 

[Bates]

I don't know the Church in question Sarge but in some Catholic Churches the Mass starts and then the kids are taken to a seperate area for "Sunday School" and so they actually don't participate in the Mass with the adults.

 

[maplesyrup]

Thanks Bates... I just really need to get the details. I just think if a service is involved, it'll be too much... at least without my wife and I - you know?

 

[Stronger Than All]

So my 2 year old son has this Scout toy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/LeapFrog-19138-Scout-Letter-Discoveries/dp/B001W2WKRQ) which does a bunch of things.  One thing it does is asks you to find a letter and names the letter.  My son finds almost every letter now and nobody knows how he is doing this.  My mother in law was actually a bit creeped out.  Nobody thinks a 2 year old should be able to do this.

For now, I'm going to assume I simply have a genius son! 

 

[Bates]

Sarge is seems that I remember the school was more about being a good person and how you treat people and so on.....  I have been a non practicing Catholic all of my life and while I don't really believe in the the need for a structured Church and being preached to in my life I do however live my life by the example in the Commandments and the Bible.  I also find the "cultlike" part of religion a bit bothersome but the basis of belief to be a better person could sure be used in today's world.  I really liked the ideas here that you visit and chat with the people who are "teaching" Sunday school.  Good luck to you on this and all "parenting" choices in life!!!  Would sure like to hear on a go forword basis how this issue works out for you??  Will be interesting to see if they go how the kids react.  Prob end up being a massive worry for you and kids just had a fun day playing with their friends at school.  Or at least that is the hope.

 

[Manson]

So as it turns out, this whole thing might not just be the Sunday school component but a full blown service followed by Sunday school.... I'm pretty sure that would be too overwhelming for them. As of now, my answer is "thanks but no thanks" unless one of the parents lets me know otherwise. I think there is some sort of kiddie thing these kids go to Wednesday nights that is run by the church and I'll keep myself open to that. - If the invitation is extended.

There's a lot written about your exact situation.  To be honest, what most parents end up finding is that it's generally harmless because the kids are bored silly, come home and tell you they didn't like it.  But like I said, I still wouldn't do it.

As for any religious people I offended, first I'm shocked, and second feel free to PM me.  I have no intentions of hijacking this thread either.

 

[Madferret]

Sarge you never been to any kind of church or mass at all?

 

[Guru Tugginmypuddah]

Thanks Bates... I just really need to get the details. I just think if a service is involved, it'll be too much... at least without my wife and I - you know?

To relay an experience of a couple years ago.....

It was late June, school was almost out.  I get a flyer in our mailbox from a Mennonite Bretheran church up the road, for a week of "day camp" at the church where the kids will do arts and crafts and such.  The price was right, it was free.  At the end of the week, there would be a family bbq, a bouncy castle, and other forms of entertainment.  It was very HIGHLY stressed to the kids throughout the week, and to us parents when we came to pick up the kids to attend the "party" at the end of the week.  Not in a forceful coercive way, just hyped A LOT.

So we go to the party at the end of the week, and the party basically turned into a membership drive.  They took the kids and entertained them and current church members two, three, four at a time would talk to the parents and basically try to get them to join the church.

 

[Zee]

I don't know the Church in question Sarge but in some Catholic Churches the Mass starts and then the kids are taken to a seperate area for "Sunday School" and so they actually don't participate in the Mass with the adults.

Yep that's what they do in our church.  So much easier with young kids since they can't sit still and figit the entire time during mass.  So they go off to another room and get to color pictures while adults listen to the mass.

 

[maplesyrup]

Sarge you never been to any kind of church or mass at all?

A fair bit actually... synagogue and church... My parents are of varying faiths and in fact, my uncle is a reverend. I just haven't bought into either faith. Now, I've picked away pieces of each that I like but to me, it's all rather well, I don't know... not for me.

 

[maplesyrup]

To relay an experience of a couple years ago.....

It was late June, school was almost out.  I get a flyer in our mailbox from a Mennonite Bretheran church up the road, for a week of "day camp" at the church where the kids will do arts and crafts and such.  The price was right, it was free.  At the end of the week, there would be a family bbq, a bouncy castle, and other forms of entertainment.  It was very HIGHLY stressed to the kids throughout the week, and to us parents when we came to pick up the kids to attend the "party" at the end of the week.  Not in a forceful coercive way, just hyped A LOT.

So we go to the party at the end of the week, and the party basically turned into a membership drive.  They took the kids and entertained them and current church members two, three, four at a time would talk to the parents and basically try to get them to join the church.

Yikes... No, I'm not sure it's anything like that.

 

[LittleHockeyFan]

So my 2 year old son has this Scout toy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/LeapFrog-19138-Scout-Letter-Discoveries/dp/B001W2WKRQ) which does a bunch of things.  One thing it does is asks you to find a letter and names the letter.  My son finds almost every letter now and nobody knows how he is doing this.  My mother in law was actually a bit creeped out.  Nobody thinks a 2 year old should be able to do this.

For now, I'm going to assume I simply have a genius son! 

when my now-22-and-about-to-graduate-from-McMaster-in-Engineering daughter was between 1 and 3 years old (I'm talking 1992 here), we had an old MacClassic computer that had this stupid little alphabet game on it....The full (eight inch at the time) screen would be a letter, and she'd have to find it on the keyboard and tap it. If she was correct, a little bird would fly across the screen and tweet. I don't remember what it was actually called but she called it 'birdie game' and she knew her alphabet by age 2 because of it, and was reading by the time she went to kindergarten. I would make her call out the letter so I knew she was actually learning the alphabet verbally as well as in written form. The kid was bored by Dr Seuss by age 3.

My younger one was born when she was 6, and she read to him. Once he discovered Link and Mario and Luigi at age 3, he wanted to play Nintendo all the time and I refused to sit down and read the screen to him all day long, so out of need to play his games, he learned to read by age 3. When the other kids in grade 1 and 2 were learning Spot and Horton hears a who, my son was reading novels by Eric Walters.

Your kid is a genius! .....there's no greater gift for a child (after parental love!) than knowing how to read.

 

[Madferret]

Sarge you never been to any kind of church or mass at all?

A fair bit actually... synagogue and church... My parents are of varying faiths and in fact, my uncle is a reverend. I just haven't bought into either faith. Now, I've picked away pieces of each that I like but to me, it's all rather well, I don't know... not for me.

Ok. I was raised Catholic - think I've been to church / mass two times since graduating high school in '95. Same kind of deal with my folks - mom is Catholic dad is CoE.

 

[Stronger Than All]

Sarge, this situation would be very confusing for me as well so I'm not sure I can give any advice.

Only thing I can tell you is I'm not religious, my side of the family is religious, and my son was baptized.  Since I'm not religious I took the stance that it really didn't matter to me, and didn't offend me at all since it doesn't mean much to me.  The reason I did it was it made many members of my family very happy - including my sons great-grandmother who is getting up there in age.

I'm not sure how this relates to you though. 

 

[AlmosGirl]

I don't know the Church in question Sarge but in some Catholic Churches the Mass starts and then the kids are taken to a seperate area for "Sunday School" and so they actually don't participate in the Mass with the adults.

That's how it is in our church (Catholic as well).  They take them before the 1st reading and they come back just before Communion.  Mass is too long these days for little kids.  When I was growing up and going every Sunday with my Dad, Mass was at the most, 30 mins.  Nowadays, it's 1 hour at a minimum.  Little kids do not like to sit still for that long, let alone some adults.

 

[louisstamos]

I don't know the Church in question Sarge but in some Catholic Churches the Mass starts and then the kids are taken to a seperate area for "Sunday School" and so they actually don't participate in the Mass with the adults.

It's usually like this, although the Pentacostal Christian Church I most recently attended would have the kids leave 3 out of the 4 weeks of the month.  The 4th week, though, they would have a "family" service, where everyone sits in mass.  And yeah, kids are figety and get bored, but they stress on some days for them to be there.  Hopefully it's not something like that...

The Wednesday thing sounds like something they would like, though.  It's funny in my situation, even though I was baptised, my parents are largely non-religious (similar to STA's situation), so I didn't really get into religion myself until my early 20s.  In order to learn more about the faith, I attended session for young adults on Fridays which were very low key and laid back.  I imagine that session would have been a little preachier than what they do with younger children, but there will be some church content.

In the end, I don't think you need to be worried; I remember attending Greek School on Saturdays from Grade 1 - 6 which was sponsored by the local Greek Orthodox church, and in the afternoons they either had bible or greek mythology sessions, and they never really "brainwashed" me per say...like I said, I really didn't start getting into religion until some 10-12 years later when I was an adult.

 

[Bullfrog]

So my 2 year old son has this Scout toy (http://www.amazon.co.uk/LeapFrog-19138-Scout-Letter-Discoveries/dp/B001W2WKRQ) which does a bunch of things.  One thing it does is asks you to find a letter and names the letter.  My son finds almost every letter now and nobody knows how he is doing this.  My mother in law was actually a bit creeped out.  Nobody thinks a 2 year old should be able to do this.

For now, I'm going to assume I simply have a genius son! 

Yep, go with your assumption. My son is similar. He's just over two, won't say anymore than a handful of words (dada, gogo [car], hi, bye, juice, and ice) but he can point out about 20 letters and say about 10. He can also stack blocks about 6 or 7 high and makes complex towers. He's been doing that since about 9 months.

I'm thinking a career in engineering or architecture.

 

[Zee]

Getting ready to brag for kid #3, the due date is March 2nd but my wife just told me she thinks it'll be the next few days -- mother's intuition.  Get ready boys and girls -- I predict the Leafs will rally for me!  LOL

 

[AlmosGirl]

Exciting Zee, good luck to you guys.  Hope it's a smooth delivery!

 

[Zee]

The wife is starting to feel slight contractions as I write this, its 5:00am.  They're not close enough together to go to the hospital, but it's going to be soon.  Probably have some good news very soon.