The How-to's of Packing a Shul Peckel

pause

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 9:18 am

The purpose of the peckel is to purse the lips of the little people so that the big people can hear shofar/davening.

Here's a list I've compiled of things I learned through experience since nobody teaches you this stuff. You're welcome!

1) Pack enough snack to last at least 45 minutes. Kids don't have much self-control and, in good situations, need their peckel as soon as you arrive. In worse situations, they need it as soon as you step out of the house. Be prepared for the worse situations.

2) Pack a separate peckel for each child. You'll teach them to share and "evenly divide" treats another time.

3) Bring along drinks. There's nothing as noise-inducing as kids who are eating but don't have what to drink.

4) Separate but equally important: The only drink you should bring along is water. Box drinks are the worst! They make for great ~~water~~ juice guns.

5) Each child should have their own water bottle. Fighting over the water bottle and who is currently thirstier is just as bad as not bringing water in the first place.

6) No chocolate in any shape or form: chocolate covered wafers, chocolate covered pretzels, chocolate chip cookies, or peanut chews. Even if you bring along a brand new pack of baby wipes, you won't have enough wipes.

7) Talking about baby wipes - bring them along. But no, not IN the peckel. They're great for wiping little hands and faces.

8) No chips. The noise from the chewing will counteract the kids' silent voices.

9) Pack honey cookies. It's Rosh Hashana after all... and isn't this why you made or bought them. But don't be surprised if that's the one thing that stays leftover in the peckel even if you're still in shul and there's nothing else to eat. "I'm saving it," was the clever reply when I asked why they're not eating it.

10) Pack lollies. They give you lots of bang for your buck - small item to shlep along but yields lots of quiet time. Unless they are chewed instead of licked. In which case, better luck getting your kids to obey you next time.

Feel free to add your own tips and tricks for those new mommies getting started.

watergirl

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 9:24 am

Love this.

- If a snack is in a package, repack it into a regular ziplock or plastic container. Those bags from the store are really loud!

- Make sure treats do not contain peanuts.

- Twizzler pull n'peel are great for shul. Not so sticky and takes a long time to eat, plus its also a fun toy.

- Cookies are a better way to go, as opposed to chips, pretzels, and bissli. Go for quiet snacks, not loud crunchy ones.

- Add a rubix cube sort of toy from the dollar store - keep it as a surprise. Throw in a few board books that are also new (before YT switch with friends).

pause

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 9:28 am

watergirl wrote:

The crinkle of the snack bag... so bothersome!

No peanuts, no other nuts (it's our minhag in Aseres Yemei Teshuva) and no dairy. True.

Twizzler pull'n'peel - do they stain clothes? The red coloring has me scared.

Yep, bissli is an even worse noise offender than chips! Plus they smell...

keym

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 9:41 am

A Rebbi at my son's Cheder taught me a trick that I use
I buy those big, disgusting HUGE jawbreaker lollies on sticks that they sell. They're the size of a fist or something.
It's not possible to bite it- it can only be licked. They have many layers of colors so it's exciting.
And they can't possibly finish them. After a morning in shul, they've only licked a fraction of it, and I dump it.
I figure all together, they consume considerably less sugar and food coloring from that fraction of one jawbreaker lolly than they would if I gave them regular lollies and jellybeans.

watergirl

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 9:42 am

pause wrote:

When I first got married, my shul was one room. The family in-front of me had purchased two seats and packed 2 adults and 4 kids into them. I think the mother decided to pack the noisiest snacks possible, which included bissli and of all things, bamba. Someone in the shul had an air-born allergy to peanuts and they had to call paramedics (there was no hatzalah). The shul had a no nut policy but who cares, right? This was in 2001 when it was more acceptable to bring peanut things.

Pull'n'peel seems to be ok for my kids! I have not had staining issues.

Lets add to the list - please do not bring hard boiled eggs! Although I cant imagine anyone would.

About the sound of the bags - this is where compromise is key. If you are bringing your kids into shul (see the shofar thread!), meet everyone half way. Bring the kids, but be thoughtful when packing snacks. I am baffled at the women who just stated "my kids crunching their chips", as in, deal with it. Meet us in the middle please!

sky

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 10:21 am

amother [ Acacia ] wrote:

I'm probably going to be a lone voice here, but when did it become so essential to bring food to every situation? When I was growing up, we never brought food to shul. Ever. Eating in shul was unthinkable.

Now it seems to be unthinkable to manage without. None of our children are starving. Aren't there other ways to quietly amuse them without stuffing their mouths with food to keep them quiet?

Candy mans are not a new invention.

We had one many many years ago in shul.

It’s a tradition to give kids treats in shul to sweeten their experience.

imaima

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 10:22 am

pause wrote:

A ziplock bag with marshmallows, jelly beans and other gummy items makes next to zero noise.

Pack normal food too because someone will inevitably turn out actually hungry.

sky

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 10:22 am

keym wrote:

I bought those this year.
My kids loved and kept them busy but Biggest mistake ever.
The white layer transfers on everything.
By the time we left shul my kids and I were covered in a white paste.
I hope it didn’t get on any ppl we were crammed in the room with.

watergirl

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 10:25 am

amother [ Acacia ] wrote:

The way I read this was as a spin-off the shofar thread which I guess you missed. I assumed this was a list of ideas for the moms who are bringing their kids to shul for shofar/zachor/megilla/other short and required times and as such, the kids need to be kept quiet.

miami85

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 11:35 am

I think a lot of these ideas are good, but also you "have to know your kid" like some kids do really well with juice boxes or wafers depending on their age and for my kids its enough of a treat.

For Yom Kippur I like to pack 5 bags for each kid--one for each tefilla time (if you don't do all five, whatever number you do do) and then it keeps them occupied while I'm davening. I like to incorporate their "meal" in it (my kids are really simple) like I'll include a bagel in mussaf and like a pita in mincha/neila and then 2-3 sweet treats and a more savory snack like pretzels, chips or popcorn.

I like sour sticks/belts. ring pops are fun.

If your shul has an outside area/women's lounge area/social hall, My mother used to advise me to not eat IN the shul itself as it can be disrespectful to the grown-ups who are fasting. If they are old enough and mature enough to sit outside for a few minutes to eat its probably better.

As for "all the candy"--it's yom tov, make it enjoyable for them. Don't make them grow up dreading Yom Kippur and it builds in a break for them since there's no formal seuda on Yom Kippur it can be hard to establish "lunch" "snack" and "dinner" time and this way they can eat when they are hungry, because hungry kids are cranky kids.

amother

Celeste

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 11:40 am

amother [ Acacia ] wrote:

I think it's ok to eat in shul but I don't get why going to shofer has to be made into such a stressful big deal. I don't take along a house full of snack. The toddlers get a lolly pop or snack and that's it. It's afew minutes. It seems like some people pack for a day trip just to go hear shofar that takes afew minutes.

Stars

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 11:50 am

amother [ Celeste ] wrote:

why so uptight about packing a bag of snacks? live and let live.