Latter-day Saint Life

To Every Mom Struggling with a Toddler in Sacrament Meeting

27075.jpg

How many members can relate? "A few days earlier I had read the dozens of wonderful responses that people gave on social media about how they make the sacrament special. I thought, 'I can’t do any of those things, especially with this son of mine. It’s impossible for a mom like me to have a spiritual experience during the . . . sacrament.'" But I was wrong. 

I have a two-year-old. And he’s terrible. Well, not all the time. But this past Sunday in church (where we’re supposed to be on our best behavior), he was the poster child of the terrible twos.

I knew things were going to be rough the minute they asked my husband to help with the passing of the sacrament. Great. Me and my four kids, including the aforementioned “terrible two-year-old,” alone in our pew.

Things got bad before we even made it to the sacrament hymn. First, the baby was pulling out the hymnbooks and throwing them down. After I took care of that, a fight over fruit snacks had my four-year-old in tears, and while I was trying to cover his mouth and console him, my two-year-old was almost successful in pushing past his big sister to break free and run down the aisle.

Yep, today I was “that mom who can’t control her kids.” I immediately set down the crying four-year-old, rushed to grab the two-year-old, and out we went into the foyer.

Lead image from LDS.org.
Share
Stay in the loop!
Enter your email to receive updates on our LDS Living content