Purim night and little kids

Notsobusy

Thu, Mar 24 2016, 11:44 pm

goodmorning wrote:

I was in a standing room only megillah leining today without a seat (and there were kids who did have seats), so you have my full sympathies. But I can see that while adults are capable of keeping quiet even when standing uncomfortably, it's much harder for kids. Mothers probably don't their kids stand up because they don't want their kids to be like the ones in your first paragraph.

(And in general, while pregnant/newly postpartum/elderly women may have a hard time standing, I think in general, it's easier for adults to stand still for 45 minutes than little kids. I'm not entirely sure that I need a seat more than the kids who had theirs.)

I hear your point, but they should be trained to offer their seat to an adult. At megillah this morning a teenage girl offered me her seat! I told her I don't mind standing, but she insisted on getting up anyhow. In the end I offered the seat to another lady, who told me that she had just gotten over a virus and she didn't think she would have been able to stand the whole time. After megillah I found the teenager and told her what a mitzvah she did.

Not only that, there were two little girls next to me, I was nervous there would be a repeat of last night, but neither one made a sound!

seeker

Fri, Mar 25 2016, 1:51 am

I guess you have to know your kids. But this year for sure I would probably not even consider it because it is just SO late at night even to start - our megillah reading ended close to 9! Not including shoshanas yaakov! and then the party STARTS after that?! Noway.

But I did take one to the leining in shul. It meant a lot to her and I know she can hold it together even late at night, and would probably not be cranky the next day either. I was only able to do that because someone else agreed to stay home with my other child and go to a later reading, because my other child does not hold it together well when tired and does get crabby the next day if she's up late. So I guess you have to know your customers. The one who gets cranky at night did fine at the morning leining (also, I went to a home leining where it's easier to just slip out the door if things are not going well... also in daytime is easier to catch a later reading for myself if it doesn't work out with the kids)

HonesttoGod

Fri, Mar 25 2016, 12:04 pm

If there is a party afterwards and a program then I would definitely take my kids. I know they wouldn't make it through megillah quietly so I would either let them sit there as long as they can or just wait outside with the other moms and kids like my mom used to do when we were young.
My dad always read for her later when all of us went to sleep.
My community doesn't have any program or kids event in shul so it is a normal night for us and my dh reads for me when he gets home. Same for the morning.

sky

Fri, Mar 25 2016, 12:13 pm

6 and under were in bed before megillah the first night.
We also didn't get home until after 11:00 pm purim day!! - it is always so late - so I wanted them to have a normal night sleep the night before.

I was actually told that children 6 and up should hear the megillah, however, if the reading is after their bedtime they should not be kept up, but should hear it Purim day if capable of sitting quietly.

I have a friend who has her kids take naps so staying up so late isn't so bad.