to feel deeply uncharitable, unchritian an a bit fecked off with the parent of the squalling brat at the carol service this evening?

[DisasterArea]

don't usually mind children in church at all. but....
if a small child whines, mons, cries and doesn't show any signs of shutting up or going to sleep during an adult oriented service, not a family or crib or nativity service would you think its mother wold perhaps take it out after the first 45 minutes it whining and moaning and crying?the church in question has a crech. it has a room with sound piped in for parents to use to enjoy he service while minding their own children. it has services which are specifically for families and children. and it has quiet, peaceful services that appeal to adults wanting a bit of peace nd contemplation without listening to someone elses over tired and miserable child.
AIBU? perhaps a little but do you see my point? and if i have a point why do i now feel unchristian and guilty for seding bad vibes he way?

Okaaaaay - 1. You can stay here in church and listen to the same service that you've just being whining through for the last 45 minutes.

1. We can go to the creche, mummy can listen to the service there and we can play together 3. We can go home, put your PJ's on and snuggle down a read a book together.

No, no mummy - I want to stay and cry through the service some more. Honestly??? Why?????!

Oh no at least 30.

And I'm sorry I can't see why consideration for others is a bad thing.
I'm not talking about singing, a little fussing or a few minutes of crying, anything more though and the parents should seriously consider taking the child out for a bit.

Ah yes, Lurker, all good points. but I think the OP is thinking along the lines of "the little Lord Jesus, no crying he makes".

I don't mind if a child is having a whinge or what have you. It's when it's a constant wail the whole time. Surely you would think of other's around you, including the other kids trying to watch.

Ah well I've always had my doubts about the scriptural accuracy of that carol

it's not a flipping concert - it's a service. Do you think Jesus asked all the parents will little children who were making noise to "please take them out so others can hear me" when preaching to the masses?

I'm sure he didn't, and he didn't even have the modern advantage of sounds systems to project voices so everyone can hear!

personally i kept mine in a box and have only allowed them to attend church services since they lost the power of speach.

singing - fantastic
dancing - even better
a little light grumbling - bearable
constant waily waily mum mum mum mu mmu mu mu mum mum mum mum waily waily wail for 40 minutes - stretching it a little even for the most hardened christian.

Indeed. the accuracy full stop...

No crying... Pah!

Little Lord, 'Jesus, I hope Facebook is back on line soon,I won't be compelled to look at this shit

Service or concert either way I'm sure the other churchgoers would appreciate hearing it.

I have to say I'd feel sorry for the kid too though. Sitting through a service bores me, I can't imagine how hard it is for a young child.

I don't know DA - even the hardcore traidionalists at the Evensong seemed to cope ok for an hour with my DS3 swapping between shouting and whinging.......

So disasterarea we need to ask ourselves why did they stay?

1. To piss you and the rest of the congregation off?

or 2) Because they needed to hear the message and know or suspected that all are welcome in the sight of God.

I'm sorry you've had a disappointing night but if those people had a good night - hearing Good News - then your sacrifice - however unwilling is not in vain.

do they not use a sound system? Most churches do these days, with a loop system for those with hearing aids. Even when some unwitting soul ushers DS3 into the crech for me (and promptly ends up taking him out again) peple can still be heard if they're using the sound system - even above his hysterical screaches./

I've sat and not said a word through non stop screeching before, not at church though, and I've still been thinking please remove the child.

It's inconsiderate imo and I don't know why it's seen as acceptable to ignore that your(general your) child is causing a major disturbance to others.

and yes. i do indeed feel bad for having bad thoughts about them and their miserable bored baby in church of all places. i am a bad bad person and must be nicer to everyone.

I agree with Northern Lurker. It may be annoying but sometimes you want to stay because you need to hear the word and get strength. It could be a difficult time maybe they had come to honour a family member who had passed and didnt want to leave who knows? Maybe they just wanted to thank Jesus for their healthy loud baby maybe the baby had a rocky start? I wouldnt worry about it now anyway.

You're positively evil Disaster. I'm amazed that you were able to enter church at all, passing crucifixes without finding yourself writhing around in pain.

Do you know what, it might have been annoying, but it was one service, one small child. The whole "fecked off" "squalling brat" "feel deeply uncharitable", "sending bad vibes her way" - OTT imo. Don't let it get to you so much. Does it really matter, I mean really?

am indeed surprised i haven't been struck dumb or something but it was a squalling brat i could tell from its tone.

OK sending bad vibes may be a little much, but being pissed off that they didn't take to the child to the creche is perfectly reasonable imho.

Amusing baby in church anecedote:

Dh was doing the sound for a wedding in our church (because we do have speakers and microwhatsits that need attention) and a baby started to cry. So mum took the baby out into the foyer - where there is a speaker for the benefit of those on ushering/welcoming latecomers duty. She though she was beyond two thick closed doors but in fact there is a staircase there leading to the balcony and the door at the top was open so with the added magnification of the foyer acoustics the noise was much, much worse Best intentions and all that...

LOL.Well at least she made the effort.

well if it was a squalling brat then it was definately in need of church to help it mend it's ways!

but again I say how do you know that the child wouldn't have been more unhappy in the creche?

YANBU. I don't see why having a bit of consideration for other people is such an awful thing. The whole "Christmas is for kids so therefore I will inflict my squalling brats on everyone else whenever I want and you're a miserable cow if you don't want them around" attitude leaves me cold.