Kids in Church

I ran across this piece and thought it excellent.  It's from a Catholic perspective, so there are some obvious points about which I would differ from the author.  However, in the big picture I think she makes some excellent points about bringing children to church. 

It does bother me that it has become so automatic to so many to drop their children off in the nursery every Sunday.  I won't go so far as to say there shouldn't be a nursery.  I know there are cases where it might be best. I'm sure some days the parents just need a break, or the baby needs a nap.  But in general, I think it would be ideal if using the nursery were the exception and the occasional circumstance rather than the rule. 

Certainly children aren't good at sitting still for so long.  But if they aren't made to try sometimes, how else are they going to learn?  Young children won't understand everything.  I wouldn't say they have to sit and listen the entire time as if they did.  I think coloring books and Bible story books are perfectly acceptable ways to keep children quiet during a sermon.  As they grow and mature, more will gradually be expected of them.  But I do think that if it is at all possible they should be there.  Worshiping as a family is an amazing blessing that is available to us.  Many people don't have that, and I think that can be easy to forget.