Easy Access for Parents in Shul

This Shabbat was not the first time that I found myself sitting in a seat in shul which was not so easy to get in and out of. Many of my young mother friends try to get seats in the back, or on the end of a row, so as to avoid bothering other women during davening. When your lovely, mostly well-behaved baby, begins squirming and squealing in your arms, you want to know that you can slip out easily.

Hence, I thought I would follow-up on my earlier post, Childcare in Shuls, with another suggestion for how shuls can create a more welcoming and tolerant atmosphere for mothers and fathers of young (read: sometimes noisy) children.

Perhaps shuls could actually reserve a few back row or aisle seats on both sides of the mechitza for parents with young children. This way, people who want to daven in the least disruptive way can try to sit in a different section, and parents who would like to be able to exit smoothly, when their children become somewhat disruptive, can do so easily.

Comments

[Soferet]

BS"D
Excellent idea. That way both ema & abba can trade off or if ema needs some quiet time alone on a Shabbes morning, junior can still have a shul experience with abba, because the male parents' needs are accomodated.

[Air Time]

IF a shul is family friendly, it doesn't matter where the kids are sitting.

If the shul looks at kids as necessary evils who follow their moms and dads to shul, you can block off the back rows and put a soundproof wall between the kids and adults, it won't make the kids feel welcome.

Besides, in most shuls I have ever been in, the back rows are filled with people talking through davening, not really the best place to show a child what shul is like.