Thank you One Peter Five:
So…I wish you could understand that just because you have a high tolerance for your kids’ rowdy behavior (and let’s face it: all normal kids are going to want to be rowdy when they’re made to sit still for something non-electronic) doesn’t mean that you don’t need to do something about it before the dirty looks and critical comments start coming in. This shouldn’t make you question whether you should be bringing your kids to Mass – it should simply make you question whether your strategy for dealing with them is working, and how you might fix it.
Okay, the tone is a self-righteous but the basic premise holds. Don't be a jerk to parents with noisy kids.
But parents with noisy kids: don't let your kids ruin Mass for everyone else.
I know, I know. Babies are great. It's great that people bring their families to Mass.
But when a baby is wailing for minutes on end, making it impossible to hear the homily, it defeats the purpose of the exercise.
It's not mean to want kids to be quiet, it's normal. This is why people come to Church and when kids are noisy, they don't get what they come for.
This should really be common sense.
It's not anti-baby. It's not being unwelcoming. There's a balance to strike between glaring everytime there's the slightest peep from a kid and letting one's children drown out the priest.
