Getting my son to sit in church

[Tyler's Helpmeet]

My son is 7 and very hyper and creative. We are having a lot of trouble with his behavior but I know the reason for that. All my kids are having issues because my focus has been on trying to make money to help us get by for the last 2 years. It is amazing how fast your family can go down hill when you do not properly tend to things.

Anyway we found a fabulous church (so far) and the timing works well with our schedule and everything. Woo hoo. The only thing is that in the second service there is no children's church. I am not a huge fan of children's church but because of my son's wildness we have used it to keep our sanity and to not be a distraction to others.

My son's behavior is so embarrassing and distracting. He can not sit still, he drops things, tries to get up, talks, etc. I have been trying to make him sit and practice but I was wondering what else I can do?

[Deleted]

Ah, the great fidgety kid. I never was that way lol.

My grandma used to give my Mom crackers to keep her quiet in church. Mom never did that for me.

Tic tacs were my ticket .

My sister had a cello recital in front our city when I was a kid, about 4 years old. Dad had orange tic tacs and if I could be quiet every 5 minutes I'd get one. At the end of the recital I'd get the rest if I was good. Tic tacs only have 2 caloriers per tac so it wasn't that bad.

It worked pretty well, taught me to be quiet. Well minus me asking why the guy's head in front of us was so shiny. ;D

I'm not a fan of "bribery" for kids but it does work when you need it to.

Katrina

[Tammy]

Katrina, your reply made me smile! But I'll tell you something my husband points out: You bribe to get someone to do wrong. You reward them for doing right.

[Brother Ben]

Begin at home.

Explain to him that you go to a church where he is going to have to learn to sit in evening services. Wheter he gets it or not, engage his mind with the new schedule.

Every day have your son practice sitting quietly. Start with just a few minutes and notch it up slowly until he is achieving sucess. As he recognizes the sucess, reward him, (it doesn't have to be a candy bar.)

Begin purging your life of any foolishness. We saw the negative impact of videos, video games, and wild play. Yes, yes, yes, let him run, jump, and exercise, BUT, do not let him engage in wild foolishness. This becomes and ingrained habitual behaviour and it can have negative implication for the rest of his life. This is why people end up believing the ADHD lie and put their children on all kinds of meds. Balderdash.

Pro 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

People will train their dog, and let their children run like wild dogs. Makes no sense.

Our Assoc. Pastor in Texas taught us to bring the children in, let them have a little activity, and then slowly take it away from them. Eventually, unruly behaviour receives a paddling.

Pro 23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

DISCLAIMER: For the liberal softy who finds this page in a Google search, "beatest" is an old King James vernacular word for a good, old-fashioned, paddling of the little bun cheeks like Grandma used to do. If you find this highly offenseive, you apparently did not receive enough! We love you, honestly.

It is doable, but you need to be mindful of his behaviour away from church, it is probably the key to his quietness in church. Our first born was the proverbial, HANDFULL. He learned to sit still and did well all his life. It set the tone for the rest of the family and we are so glad (to God be all credit and glory,) to sit still during preaching.

Bro. Ben

[Tyler's Helpmeet]

We had a little more success last week.

We allowed him to bring a very small container of small items to fiddle with. He the tiny toys keep his hands busy so his butt can stay still and his mouth was not moving Not ideal but a small step.

We have been keeping him inside the past couple weeks so we can do a lot of behavior training. It is too hot here to be outside running wild anyway. We are seeing some tiny improvements.