Originally Posted by
AZ Jane
Strange, all this discussion about unruly kids. Children sit in church every Sunday without being unruly.
I don't find this to necessarily be true either! (Lots of toys, food, and talking/screaming) But I think now a days its unpopular to have expectations for your kids behavior, or tell them they are wrong and correct them, we wouldn't want to damage little Johnny's self esteem, and so whatever they want to do is fine. My house runs on an expectation policy..my granddaughter knows what I expect from her and knows the consequences for deliberate disregard of those expectations. By the same token, I have realistic expectations! ( She is in my care a considerable amount of time) And her parents and I work in harmony. The result? She is a very well behaved, confident 10 yr old who is respectful and conforms to authority.(Respectfully questioning that authority is OK, but generally she knows if we have given someone authority over her, they will get our support). She's in no way perfect, but we trust we will be proud of her in most situations.
I can see your dilemma at your guild meetings, but I'm assuming yours is a paid membership. Disruptive kids and adults need to be dealt with for the benefit of all paid members. I think your person running your meetings needs to be a strong person unafraid of tactfully presenting and enforcing the expectations of the guild. You are never going to please everyone and you may even lose a member or two. I generally find people want to follow the rules if those rules have been clearly presented. And I also think Jr. dues would solve a bunch of issues. Many would find alternate free sitters (Gee, maybe I could leave the baby at sister's or mom's, even though I have to drive an extra 10 minutes to drop off/pick up). And the kids that are really interested would still be welcome. I do think small kids are a risk. I do not want to have to watch my stuff to be sure someone else's kid doesn't get into it, so if a kid is unable to sit still and work on a project of some sort, even if its coloring quilt blocks, they should not be in a room with hot irons, scissors, rotary cutters, etc. and a bunch of people who are concentrating on something else! My 2 cents.