When my kids were younger (about seven years ago) and I only had three of them my parents called me up and asked if they could take my kids to a convention. My mother had even went out and bought clothes for the kids to wear. I told them that they could but my children had no experience with sitting for long stretches of time and it might be hard on them to do so and by extention hard on my parents. So come on over and get the kiddies. Needless to say my parents thought better of it, they were able to think sanely for once, and decided that taking three kids (untrained in the ways of the bOrg) all under eight years wasn't such a good idea.
District Conventions are awful if you have kids. (Learn why!)
by easyreader1970 43 Replies latest jw friends
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jeanV
it is great to go to DC with kids, you manage to miss most of the programme :)
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Casper
Even tho I had help, my experience was just as bad as Momz.
Plus we were expected to be "at our assigned jobs" by 3:00 a.m. each day of the convention.
With a young child and an infant... that was a nightmare...!!! But we did it, so grateful for the privilege.
Cas
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chickpea
even WITH a "mate" it was hell on everyone.... but i think moms bear the brunt
we had to travel SIX hours to our convention with FOUR kids, 2 still in diapers ( and they were cloth!) and one breastfeeding!
talk about your hell on earth..... dress clothes and book bags, coolers of food, new notebooks and markers for the older kids to keep them busy, candy and gum rewards for sitting still, endless potty breaks..... juice boxes, raisins, pretzels ... ANYTHING to keep them quiet......
the hub would leave the hotel room to stand for an hour at the doors to be able to procure aisle seats for the upcoming parade of events sure to unfold during a 6 hour indoctrination .... he too told tales of flung bookbags and handbags as christian adults diplayed exemplary behaviour and decorum.... best seats already claimed by elders..... belongings moved by the "finest people in the world"... we often opted for the nose bleed section way up in the rafters, but that is also where the teenagers gathered to ditch their parents for a session....
meanwhile i was back at the hotel, in best case scenarios with adjoining rooms ( room occupancy limits = 5... our family = 6) herding cats.... where are your shoes.... those sox dont match... you need a belt, wait for papa to help you tie your tie, why is the baby ripping pages out of that bible, be sure to pee before we go, eat your yogurt, do you want mustard on your sandwich, where are my pantyhose, we are sharing the pringles so no one gets a separate can, yes we will go outside at lunch ( please god dont let it rain!) please remember not to stick your hands in the baptismal pool............. what a spiritually uplifting endeavour!! and to think... we would get there and sit and listen to them shame us for not doing more in jah's service
oh the joy
i am experienceing flashbacks even typing it...........
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LovesDubs
I know I have talked about this subject before LOL! We had our DC at the HORSE race track in Chicago. So we got to CLEAN the HORSE race track for a week ahead of time for the privilege of using it all frickin summer every weekend. What a nasty ass smelly mess and there were NEVER enough johns for the women and the ones we converted had urinals in them. The seats which were covered by several floors of nosebleed steep seats were nevertheless outside and the smell of horse manure and heat was incredible. We would clean every night after every session as well. And every morning at daybreak they would take all the horses out and RUN them around the dirt track and whip up all the dirt and manure dust all over again.
My last DC was July of 1995. I had a 6-1/2 year old, a 4 year old and a two month old. And at that point we were bringing our own food and I was breast feeding and we had blankets for the kids to take naps on UNDER OUR FEET because they were exhausted by afternoon between the heat and lunch and boredom, coolers, bookbags, diaper bags....gawd. Meanwhile...where was my husband?? Oh the guy who NEVER does housework was all over that site being Brother Volunteer and left me to tend to the three kids and with kids that young you have to bring them ALL to the bathroom when one needs to go or be nursed or be changed. So Brother Helpful is out helping with GODKNOWSWHAT because we BOTH know he doesnt want to sit his ass in that seat and listen to all that boring shit for three days...and I DONT HAVE THAT OPTION!!
So finally at the END of the LAST DAY Im packed and sooooooo ready to go home and Brother Helpful is nowhere to be found. Pre-cell phones. We are literally some of the last 40 people on the ENTIRE racetrack site besides the horse groomsmen....and my husband finds me and Im all excited we are finally leaveing and he says to me standing there with a crying baby and two STARVING tired little ones, "I will be back in 15 minutes we just have to sweep up our congregation area in the stands!" Ok Im thinking....almost there! 15 minutes I can do this!! NINETY MINUTES LATER he shows up!!!! I was beyong pissed beYOND angry BEYOND murderous!!!!! And I declared right there to his face "I am NEVER going to another District Assembly again..this is IT!!!"
And I didnt.
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Casper
Good Lord...!!!
Chickpea and LovesDubs...
How in the world did you ladies "Cope"... I am exhausted just thinking about what you both went thru...
We lived in an area that did not observe DST, so KY. was always an hour ahead of us during the DC. And I thought that was rough... My Hubby always had things to "DO" also, but he did help out in the morning rush.
I am amazed at what we willingly put ourselves thru, and called it a privilege.
we would get there and sit and listen to them shame us for not doing more in jah's service
Exactly...!!!
Cas
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Gayle
I spent my youth at meetings and conventions. Then I became a parent and re-evaluation set in. I realized how nuts it was scrambling to meetings and assemblies. I looked at my small children, observing it didn't take much insight to see they were bored out of their brains (I was bored too), not just my children but I observed all the children there. Going back to the motel, and letting these suppressed kids come back to their youthful life in the pool or other activities and their joy could not be denied. Schools and even churches Sunday schools are realistic and have the wisdom to make learning stimulating & some fun too. Youth passes quickly and is a terrible thing to waste; having empty memories mostly of meetings, assemblies, and service is sad as nothing stands out with any much warmth or joy. Those JW programs are set up by men in Brooklyn who most have never had any children. I was at Bethel 5 yrs. and know for certain they know nothing of the personal reality of raising children, nor do they care. Thankfully, my children never got baptized, went to college and are JWdumb free.
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bluesbreaker59
DC's were awful AS A KID!!!! We had to drive 4+ hours to get to the hotel, in Lincoln, Nebraska. So my dad and I, always took my grandma and my aunt too, because my grandpa (non-JW) died. We got there usually late on Thurs. night, and I usually didn't get to swim the first night. I only had a dad for 5 years, because my mother left us, for another man, when I was about 6, and I lived with my dad. Most of the time when I was younger I hung out with my cousin, and we would terrorize the place, by knocking into people, picking on other kids, eat too much, etc. When we got older, one of his friends would bring a computer to the DC, and he had tons of naked celebs on there that we'd look at in our hotel rooms. At 12, I was sitting with my friends usually, and never sat with my parents as a teen. Usually I had binoculars, soda and snacks with me at all time. I remember at 11, I got a "gift" called a stepmom. My stepmom was like the gestappo at DC's. She was always in a bad mood, telling me what to do, how to act, constantly yelling and berating me in front of my friends, etc. She was a huge bitch, to put it nicely. She was really terrible when girls started to notice me and pay me lots of attention. She constantly was watching me and raking me over the coals right in front of them. Dad didn't really care what I did, as long as I didn't get in trouble, or embarrass him, and I didn't, because I love my dad.
So around 14, I had about 5 girls I was "workin" at the convention, and usually had a group of 10+ that I would walk with and talk with. This infuriated my stepmom, to the point where every night in the hotel she would just be a tyrant. We always had to go out with HER family after the sessions, which was BRUTAL!!! I finally got tons of friends that were all leading double lives, and we'd go to the hotel rooms, and watch porn, prank the other witnesses, drink, make out with girls, some even did drugs (not me), etc. At 18 though it all came crashing down though because I had a "steady" girlfriend, and we were going to marry, because her parents and her elders said I had to. So that year pretty well sucked, we got in trouble on the way back home, because we pulled over for a while. That next year I was married, and on my own, we left early on Sunday every year we were together, at my insistance. We usually fought the whole time we were at the DC too. I'm thankful we never had kids, because I saw my friends struggles with their kids. Being divorced at the DC sucks even worse, people look at you like you are a leper.
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daniel-p
The parking attendants.... Bafoons waving their arms, thinking they're making things move easier by waving their arms.... Once, and this was only at a small assembly hall, I was parked directly next to a wide open gate on the side of the parking lot. But no, a "parking attendant" waved me in the opposite direction so I would have to circumnavigate the entire assembly hall (360 degrees) because traffic was moving the "other way." Never mind that no cars were even moving yet, and I was parked directly next to the open gate!!! I wanted to run the guy over. But my wife was with me and got all embarrassed that I was perturbed by it.
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Quirky1
The memories of DC's....Some were okay some were not. With a family of four I usually spent $800.00, give or take.
Food, lodging, new clothing and fuel. For what? The kids didn't pay attention, everybody was falling asleep. Couldn't wait to leave and go to a nice restauraunt and back to the room. Wake up and do it all over again.
I was also one of the parking attendants. Had to be there extra early and last to leave. What a miserable task...sigh.
I actually had to take extra time off to recover from the DC's.