April 27, 2008

Drive-by Mass

Yes, so, the last post I mentioned that mass with little ones is a trial in patience.

Last evening proved that.

I dislike attending Saturday evening Mass to begin with. It's normally older people with few or no children, so every little noise that mine make is glaringly obvious. But, dh works third shift and sometimes has to work a full shift Saturday night, so 5pm Mass is our only option for attending as a family.

Dd2 is 33 months old, but is disabled and developmentally delayed. She just does NOT understand what being quiet is, and doesn't understand why she can't run around screeching in delight, or spend the entire time going up and down the stairs in the back of the church. Normally though, I can entertain her at least until the homily in the pew, then take her back to the cry room and keep her relatively quiet for the consecration, then bring her back up front after Communion, and finish the Mass in the pew.

Sometimes, though, she just can't calm down. Last night was one of those times. And since the baby was also crying and fussing I felt totally overwhelmed. In the cry room trying to calm the baby down while dd2 screamed and bang on the doors. Dh's idea of helping was to send dd1 back to "help" me. Sigh.

22 minutes into the Mass I had had enough and took dd2 and dd3 to the van and drove around town. It put dd3 right to sleep and dd2 happily looked out the window the whole time.

I'm seriously considering just not bringing dd2 to mass for awhile. I'm tired of spending the entire time completely stressed out and missing communion half the time.

Insert dramatic sigh.

3 comments:

Lucy said...

aww - I know what you mean. We had an experience where someone wouldn't even give us the sign of peace because she was grumpy with our son - and it actually contributed to keeping me away from Mass. I will say a prayer for you on Sunday :o) (I came here from 4real)

catherine said...

I know what you mean too. My 4 year old is a handful even for the "family mass." Most of the time I end up feeling stressed out and resentful. I started going by myself once a week in addition to going with my family so I can have that spiritual nourishment without being angry or stressed. I'll pray for you to find a way for it to work for you.Thanks for adding me to your blogs - I'm truly touched by that! (pixiekids)

Sarah said...

If it helps, I am a single gal (no kids) and I kind of enjoy hearing little ones making noise during Mass, even loud noise.

It's not sadistic . . .it just seems like such a sign of LIFE.