Especially those of you married to servants and elders? How did you feel about that? Did you wish the Society would make more accomodations for dealing with children?
Ladies: were you often left to deal with the children at assemblies/meetings?
by JimmyPage 27 Replies latest jw friends
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cantleave
Nugget had to deal with the kids as I was too important being too important. I wondered why she never got anything out of assemblies and conventions.
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designs
I worked security at the Assemblies so I was always out in the parking lots or tunnels of the stadiums which left the wife to handle two little ones all day.
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JimmyPage
And wives, how did you feel about that?
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blondie
Wives were told that this was their sacrifice, their gift to God, to free their husbands for their more important work. Any brother helping his wife "proclaimed" that he had no privileges or wasn't a jw.
I had assignments during the sessions and listened to the program. I sat near elders who talked all during the program; saying they were glad they weren't stuck looking after the kids. And you wonder why the lines to the women's restrooms were so long; because dad wasn't around even to take their sons to the restroom, so I would see 8 year old boys in the women's restroom because mom could not leave them alone outside while they took their little sisters.
I was single and had no children so I would find a single mother with several children to help. I can remember an elder's wife asking when I would help her! She was the equivalent of a single mother.
I can think of many families where none of the children are jws and this was a big factor. Dad's lack of involvement did not stop at the conventions but continued into the congregation where they were too busy "helping" others in the congregation and did not spend any time with their own children.
I can think of several families where the wife left her husband to find a man who had more than a few minutes in bed with her if that, who talked to her.
I wonder where the men were during the 3 Jewish festivals?
(Deuteronomy
31:12) 12 Congregate the people, the men and the women and the little ones and your alien resident who is within your gates, in order that they may listen and in order that they may learn, as they must fear Jehovah YOUR God and take care to carry out all the words of this law. . .
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designs
Blondie- the Witness religion, and probably they are like several others, gives the JW men the perfect excuse to act like Neanderthals.
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Bonnie_Clyde
Yes, I remember the problems I was having with my son when he had just started walking and I had an older toddler. It was a struggle keeping him in check even between sessions. Clyde was working in accounts at the time. Bless his heart! He decided after that it was more important to help with the children and declined any more "volunteer" work at assemblies. But I felt sorry for the other mothers.
They never had mother's rooms when my children were little. We had to find a way to change diapers in the regular restrooms. Sometimes this was so hard that I remember changing diapers right at my seat--even a dirty one. I had all the equipment with me including a pad to lay on the concrete floor and plastic bags and washcloths.
I also thought nothing of breast feeding right at my seat. Nobody ever gave me a problem. I just laid a light-weight blanket or towel over my shoulder so the baby was out of sight (sort of) , and it was generally content.
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lovelylil2
Yes I was left with the kids. My hubby was a servant and always had better things to do. I hated it! I hated attending conventions at all. I would be exhausted by the end and the kids would too. It is way too much to ask the kids to sit quietly for hours and hours at a convention when young children are not capable of doing this.
I would also hate all the looks I would get by the attendants when I got up to walk around and by those sitting around me when my kids acted up. I even had a few "sisters" tell me I had to spank my kids more because they would to unrurely. For me, attending these conventions was pure torture and towards the end I would have panic attacks a week ahead, just dreading it. Peace, Lilly
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JimmyPage
It is way too much to ask the kids to sit quietly for hours and hours at a convention when young children are not capable of doing this.
Agreed, wholeheartedly!