popa_bar_abba, sorry to say, I disagree with you. I brought my children to shul and when they started to wiggle around I took them home so my hubby and all the other mispallelim could continue to daven. That is how I was mechanech them. Shul is for davening and not for playing!!!! Children need to be taught to have “respect” for a makom kadosh. They need to be taught that we DON’T talk in shul, it IS NOT appropriate.
On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur I stayed home until my kids could control themselves in shul or I could trust them to be outside without my supervision. It was not a mitzvah for them to come to shul and disturb others from their kavanah in davening and I must say that I was very disturbed and upset by the children who ran around under the windows and in and out of the doors, up and down the aisles and basically disturbed everyone. If parents can’t afford a babysitter then mothers should stay home and daven whatever they can from home. They are obviously not davening appropriately in shul either, so why disturb everyone else’s davening too?
Of course, if the shul arranges a children’s group, or there is a room for the children with toys and supervision, that is a whole other ball game. Parents can bring children into the shul area for as long as they can sit still, then walk them into the play area. This is a good way to train children to have respect for shul and then when their time is up, they can go play. Many shuls have a no children rule which I don’t feel is right either.