Tips for going to Temple Square with Toddlers

I don't have any bad memories of going to see the lights at Temple Square - per se.  I do have a lot of memories of being cold, waiting in long lines, and dealing with crowds.  Since none of those things mix with toddlers (or really any of us) I knew that if we were going to go see the lights we would have to be smart to have a good time.   

The first step was to dress warmly.  As a teenager I was pretty stupid and thought that dressing warm was uncool.  That changed when I met Brandon and he told me that walking around in 3 feet of snow in nothing but a coat, skirt, nylons, and ballet slipper style shoes was a recipe for getting sick.  (I knew that, but somehow having a guy I liked tell me made all the difference.)  So now as soon as it starts getting cold I never go outside without my coat, scarf, hat, gloves, warm socks, and boots.  Sometimes I'm a little overdressed for the temperature, but I'm never caught unaware.

So we bundled everyone up and made sure we were warm.  Charlotte and Lydia still don't understand the concept of gloves, but at least everything else was covered.

Second, we went early.  We got there about 5:00 PM.  It was just getting dark, but it wasn't super cold or crowded yet.  Everyone always thinks, "let's go see the lights. It should be dark around 7:00."  Everyone always seems to forget that in the winter it's starting to get dark at 4:30.

The third thing we did was park close.  We parked in the lot under the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.  On weekdays you have to pay to park here, but we got around that by eating at the Nauvoo Cafe on the first floor (more about that in a minute).  So we were able to get parking validation.  Even if we hadn't had the validation it would have been worth it to spend the $3 or so to park basically on Temple Square. And I think we met Elder Oaks in the elevator, but Brandon says he is taller than the guy that looked and sounded just like him.

Here is another hint if you will be at Temple Square without small children.  Go to a session in the temple.  You can park under the conference center, and then get parking validation from the recommend desk at the temple. Plus it helps you remember the true meaning of Christmas.

The fourth thing we did was to just keep moving.  The girls liked the lights (at least I think that's what complete silence means), but I knew they would have no appreciation for looking at the Christus, the huge nativity scene, or any of the smaller scenes.  Basically we did "Temple Square in 20 minutes or less."  We just walked around and saved all the in depth stuff for when the girls are older.  

 All our tricks worked.  We were starting to get a tiny bit cold when we went back into the JSMB.  The girls had been so good that we thought we'd let them get out and run around.  We went upstairs to the Mezzanine level and found a quiet area away from other people.  The girls basically vaulted out of the stroller.  Then they walked (Charlotte) and crawled (Lydia) all over the place.  My favorite moment was when they looked down at the lobby.  There was a lady playing Christmas music on the piano, and the girls started doing little dances to the music.  The camera's batteries had died and for the first time in 4 1/2 years I didn't have charged backup batteries.  So I just "took a picture in my mind" like my dad says.  

After letting the girls run around we put them back in the stroller and went to the Nauvoo Cafe.  Even if the batteries were working there is no way we would have been able to take a picture here.  It was one of the most intense things we have ever done with the girls.  They wanted to eat out food, AND sit on the table.  We succeeded in keeping them from doing one of those things.  Lydia looked like she was bleeding from the berry pie I shared with her.  I don't think we will be taking them out to eat anywhere for a while.  All I can say is at least all the other patrons had small children with them to so we didn't stick out too much.  And the food was good - even if I did have to eat it really really fast.  

We were on our way home around 7:00.  As we drove out of Salt Lake we played our "will they survive game."  We made up this game a year ago on the trail down from Angel's landing.  We would look at the way people were dressed and how much water they had and decide how far they would make it before turning around.  This time we were rating people on their quality of winter clothing.  Most people looked like they would freeze.

It was really fun to take the girls to see the lights.  We usually go to Temple Square every other year so we won't go back until they are three.  Next year we will go to the Christmas Village in Ogden.  (Which I have to confess I like better than Temple Square) 

And here is a cute picture of the girls in their Christmas Dresses.  We were given these dresses last year.  I told the girls they had to learn how to walk before they could wear them - because the skirts are too full for them to crawl very effectively.  Charlotte is walking and Lydia can walk well enough went she holds on to things so they wore them for the first time on Sunday.  They looked so cute!