We have four. Two boys and two girls. Maybe it is the area we are in, but there are a lot of people who give my wife and I dirty looks when we all go out together. Unless we go to a restaurant, then they want to know our secret for keeping our kids quiet.
I always say they are crazier at home, but we are a quiet family. Also, my wife stays home with the kids. We don't have a house, but we have kids who love The Lord. Perspective.
Yes I fully understand what you are saying and can relate that to our family
A man told my two year old daughter off for singing in a shop the other day!
But please tell me how do you keep your children quiet in restaurants....We haven't found the secret to that yet!
In fact when one of my older daughters was little and getting frowned on by a rather snooty lady in a cafe for making a noise she burst out with the children's chorus "You cant get to heaven without Salvation" I remember thinking well at least she's spreading the gospel
Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise?
Matthew 21:16
Lover of Children
Redeemer divine
I am so happy to know Thou art mine
Loving me
Leading me
All through my days
Thee will I love
And Thy Name will I praise*
* hymn verse Edith Greeves
@Fragrant Grace
Ha, keeping kids quiet in a restaurant isn't that big of a secret. But here are a few steps, all Biblical.
1) Know your children and their status. If they are tired, then don't go out. If they are too hungry, then don't go out. The more children you have the harder this is to time, but it isn't fair to put a child in a situation that you know they will have a hard time behaving.
Ephesians 6
King James Version (KJV)
4 And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.
2) Be willing to discipline your children in public in a non-humiliating way. If you can't think of a way, then don't go out. If you can't follow through with your warning, then don't warn. My wife and I are always willing to either pack everything up and leave or have one of us go back to the car and sit with the child who wont behave. I am sure there are others, but this seems to work the best. I rarely have to use it.
Proverbs 13:24
King James Version (KJV)
24 He that spareth his rod hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes. [/QUOTE]
3) Spend time with your children. They want to know you and be like you. In some cases they wont or don't and that is fine, but we need to set a good example. At a restaurant I will draw with a couple of the kids and my wife will with the others. We ask them things and engage them. We are called to raise our children and the best way to do that is to be with them, not baby sitting them. This is why my wife stays home. I know different people do it different ways, I would have my children with me at work if I could, but they need us to show the way.
Proverbs 22:6
New King James Version (NKJV)
6 Train up a child in the way he should go,
And when he is old he will not depart from it.
4) Bring some Saltine crackers. If they are munching, then they are not screaming. The scripture on this one is more of a joke
Matthew 15:27
New King James Version (NKJV)
27 And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”
Disclaimer:
There is a lot more scripture available for these points. Except that last one. I need to do more research on that. If you want more scripture for these it wont take long for me to find, so let me know. I am not suggesting that you guys have not tried these points and they are not guaranteed to work every time, something to do with free will. Use these solutions at your own risk. May cause quiet and more obedient children.
Don't write a book about this. I am in the process of writing one. Title: Don't buy a book on parenting: God gave you one already
