Sunday, May 10, 2015

Electronics and Church

Photo courtesy of www.lds.org
Repeat after me, "I, [state your name], love my young child enough to not let them take electronics to church."

The night before Mother's Day, and an impending church service the next day, my son tried again to re-initiate a negotiation with me.  He insisted he needed to take his electronics to church.  He stated that it was allowed by his teacher.  His teacher lets all the boys play their games until the other teacher returns from the library with the study materials.  Then class starts and they put their games away.  To which, I responded, "I'm glad your teachers have rules, however, I love you enough to not let you take your electronics to church."

I was pretty wishy-washy on what our rule should be for a long time.  So yes, the Kindle came to church because he had a copy of the scriptures on it.  He gave me his word that he would not play games.  Of course I knew what would happen -- but I tend to experiment on my children, giving them just enough rope "to hang themselves".  So... a few things DID happen.  I had to struggle with him during sacrament (chapel service) to take it away when he played games.  I got a report from one teacher that they couldn't get him to put it away.  He claimed he wasn't playing games -- only shopping for them.  On another day, his was playing a stickman game where the stickman jumps off the building, and you try to pick the right trajectory so as not to kill it.  He had the attention of six children in various aisles around him as they all laughed during sacrament.

I'm also a mother who has brought lots of snacks and other distractions to **attempt** to not have mass chaos in our pew.  Anything can distract a kid -- but coloring books and crackers are a little less involved.  The kids still look up when they hear someone they recognize.  But my kids are now 5 and 8 years old, and its time they start paying attention.  If they can hold an adult conversation, then they can listen to an adult speak for at least a few minutes.

Last night I told my son that those 10 minutes when other kids are playing games, are a great time for him to listen to the Spirit and how he feels while he's in church.  Its a great time to just listen.  It would also be a great time for him and his teacher to get to know each other better.  He got mad and went to bed without giving me a hug and a kiss.  But today, in church, he listened to two talks.  In my mind, that's a fair trade.