We started taking Benjamin to church to attend the service when he was around 3 months old. He was a well behaved kid then -- he mostly slept during the service or would just look behind and smile at the people sitting behind us.  Often some people came to us after the church service and say things like, “You have such a cute baby ... quite well behaved in church.” We were happy that we are blessed with a baby like Ben... quite peaceful and well behaved. 

Ben is now 15 months old and quite a handful. Now he mostly prefers to walk and play outside during the church service. But he still needs someone to hold his hand while he walks to help him stay upright. So we often end up standing outside and missing the service. It became rather pointless going to church. We thought that instead of letting him have his way always, we should teach Ben to stay in church during the service . 

So last Sunday when we went to church we sat up front rather than close to a door. Ben sat quietly with us for some time, but after a while he decided to move around and have fun. He crawled around on the aisle; went up to some older kids who were sitting together and tugged at their hair and clothes; threw the hymn books down on to the floor and was generally being a distraction to the people inside church. He found a cute little girl, about 8 years old, sitting near by ...  he crawled up to her and gave her a hug and made funny faces to make her laugh. All this seemed funny to us -- considering that he is only a 15 month old baby, but is this the right thing to do in church? No clue.

Ben had made lot of friends by the end of the service. They all came searching for him and waved byes and kissed him when we left. But the older folks said, ”Such a naughty kid ... but you can't blame him -- he's just a baby.” 
 
Now, as Ben's parents we are quite perplexed. Should we make Ben stay in church and be a distraction or let him have his way and go out but let the other people attend the church service in peace?