The How-to's of Packing a Shul Peckel

amother

Celeste

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 11:55 am

Stars wrote:

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

It's not about packing a bag of snacks. It's about the entire major stress about going to shofer. I don't get why people make it into such a huge big deal and stress. As if they're going out for the day for something that takes afew minutes. The entire day is calculated around going to shofer. I think it's an unnecessary stress that people take on themselves. It shouldn't be like this.

BH Yom Yom

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 11:59 am

watergirl 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.

That is horrible about the peanut emergency! What a way to spend YT. I hope the person who was allergic was all right afterward.

Wondering about eggs, why do people recommend not bringing them? Curious!

watergirl

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 12:04 pm

BH Yom Yom wrote:

Hard boiled eggs have a horrible smell. Save those for home.

amother

Celeste

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 12:04 pm

BH Yom Yom wrote:

Because of the smell! Omg!

Stars

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 12:11 pm

amother [ Celeste ] wrote:

I'm assuming it isn't stressful for you. Good for you! But it can be for some people, for various reasons. Maybe it's a far walk and it's very hot, maybe they have a bunch of toddlers, maybe they have a special needs kid in the mix, whether you can see it on the kid or not, maybe they are extremely tired, maybe they are under a lot of stress outside of this one shofar trip, etc. Good for them for trying to make it easier for themselves and people around them. It's ok. Just because something hasn;t been your experience, doesn't mean it hasn't been so for others.

amother

Celeste

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 12:16 pm

Stars wrote:

You're right. But many in many posts on this topic, I see women making it hard and stressful on themselves for no reason. Something that takes afew minutes isn't supposed to be so stressful.

watergirl

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 12:16 pm

amother [ Celeste ] wrote:

I agree with you that it should not be like this. But this site is supposed to be all about supporting each other and helping. That's what this thread is for.

amother

Wine

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 12:18 pm

amother [ Celeste ] wrote:

You're right. But many in many posts on this topic, I see women making it hard and stressful on themselves for no reason. Something that takes afew minutes isn't supposed to be so stressful.

I don’t really relate either but I understand that everyone has different dynamics

amother

Apple

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 3:18 pm

amother [ Celeste ] wrote:

I wouldn’t call it stressful but I do have to pace my day.
My dh davens over 15 minutes away snd leaves at 7 am
I have a few kids going to shul at different shifts.
Either I walk them with everyone or make sure someone older is home with the younger ones. I get lots of excersize in.

If a 9 yr old will be in shul without me far from home for 4 hr mussaf I want to make sure she takes enough food to keep her happy.

The day does take planning.
We also have to make sure we get out of house in enough time to make it for shofar bec shul isn’t right there. And toddlers use bathroom so no accidents along the way.

Right now I don’t have a newborn but when I did figuring out nursing schedule around shofar that can take an hr with walking was difficult.

pause

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 3:58 pm

amother [ Apple ] wrote:

This. Exactly.

And when you plan, as we all know, things don't necessarily go according to plan all the time...

amother

Lightgray

Fri, Sep 10 2021, 5:52 pm

Honestly I felt like you when I lived in a building on the 5th floor, just getting everyone's clothes from a tiny shared closet was hard. And then shlepping down with all kids and everyone's machzor , was a huge ordeal..
And then I had a 20 minute walk , and navigating the crowds of people and making sure my kids dont get lost on the way ..

Now bh I live in a big house, its not stressful to find clothes anymore, lol and the no steep apt. Building steps to shlep down and the shul is now 2 short blocks away from me, maybe a 5 min. Walk.

My life is so mush easier since I moved here!
Thank you hashem.

amother

Saddlebrown

Sat, Sep 11 2021, 2:00 pm

amother [ Linen ] wrote:

I never brought snacks to shul. I expect my kids to be quiet for fifteen minutes without them. If they can’t I wouldn’t go

I totally agree. If kids can't behave unless their mouths are constantly full, then they have no business being in shul.

The best solution is to start a children's program in a side room, and keep all the kids in there. Torah Tots, Junior Minyan, things like that are much better for everyone, and they don't need to involve junk food.

All it takes is a few dedicated moms and a rotating schedule to make it work.

Otherwise, you need to hire a babysitter in advance, and go to shul alone.

(BTW, several years ago, the candy man at my old shul was caught molesting the young boys. He ended up going to jail for quite a long time, because there were so many victims, and because he had stuff on his computer as well. Don't let your kids run hefker in shul. Keep them in your sight at all times, unless they are in a supervised program.)

Iymnok

Sat, Sep 11 2021, 2:19 pm

I used to give my kids a special shofar treat. It was usually a small bag of jellies that was more than they got at other times, so more special. It was for after shofar, for kids who were quiet.

amother

Aqua

Sat, Sep 11 2021, 5:20 pm

Iymnok wrote:

I used to give my kids a special shofar treat. It was usually a small bag of jellies that was more than they got at other times, so more special. It was for after shofar, for kids who were quiet.

Me too. My little kids were told that we go to shul to hear the shofar, not to eat. They got a nice treat for keeping quiet as soon as we left shul.

amother

Tealblue

Sat, Sep 11 2021, 5:39 pm

FranticFrummie wrote:

What do people do if there is no eruv, and they can't carry bags of food around?

If its Yom tov then there is no need for an eruv.

To add - when I was actually organised enough I'd add cucumber sticks - no mess, no noise, takes a while to munch, and on top of that its healthy. But kids all loved cucumber, might not work for all kids.

No need for a 45 min nosh fest, but some food does help to calm children especially if it's been a long walk and a while since they last ate.

As far as keeping kids clean, the really messy ones I'd sometimes dress fully apart from their dress/shirt, and only slip that on as we were walking out the door.