My bishop is awesome: assigned seating
 

Last Sunday my Bishop stood up at the end of the meeting and told everyone to arrive on time.

He also said "if you don't have kids, we want you to be in the front."

Right now all the old retired folks sit in the back.

He also said, "if you have young children, you are to sit in the back."

This applies to me since we usually sit in the front.

What was really funny was that there is a new couple in the ward, that was sitting on the front row. They have two boy toddlers that were just going nuts. Running over to the side in the curtain. One almost pulled down the sacrament cloth. Parents took them out about six different times.

They must be feeling really welcome about right now. :)

So I'll be sitting in the back now.

I don't know what the deal is with parents who let their kids run around during Sacrament meeting.

I'm the oldest of nine and somehow my parents managed to keep us under control. Yeah sometimes we were taken outside when things got out of control, but we were never allowed to run around inside the chapel.

I don't believe there's a child out there who cannot be either controlled or taken outside during one hour a week.

LOL. You ARE a dork!

So you came from one of those fabled ritalin big LDS families. Interesting disclosure.

And somehow none of us were ever medicated. Hmm.

We sit right behind the deacons, so that anybody seeing a commotion thinks it's those guys not us. It is a good angle, because you can see the bishopric but they are not directed at you.

We don't have very many babies, unless they are visitors.

the front is always open.

since you haven't been to church since you were 13, your reaction has been fossilized. Like a time capsule.

Seattle was last active when the priesthood was not restored, no chapels had been built and rumor of a temple in Kirtland was on the horizon.

My wife teaches the three-year-olds in primary (post-nursery class). Last week one of the kids bit her on the arm in sharing time and would not let go. Took her a minute to pry her jaw apart and she was afraid of losing a finger. She had the tooth marks on her arm for a day or two.

Not a typical kid (thankfully), but we got a good laugh out of it.

I don't make an effort to "control" my kids. I let kids be kids. Sometimes I even take a sadistic pleasure in watching old people freak out when my toddler tosses his cheerios at them. They grow out of it over time.

My parenting opinion: the more you "control" them at a young age the more problems you create for them at a later age.