Did anyone have to take a child to the 341 meeting?

[kl030505]

I strongly suspect we will have to take our 2 year old to the 341 meeting when we have it. Daycare is located where I work, which is a good hour in morning traffic each way, and she can't be there earlier than 8 am, so if we have a 9 am hearing time, I probably won't make it in time with the back and forth, not to mention the waste of miles on the car and gas. I will probably have to take the whole day off of work for it anyway, it seems silly to drive her to daycare if I don't go to work myself.

She's a good kid, pretty easily entertained and good at being quiet and what not, but she's still 2. Has anyone had any problems with this?

[BassBoy]

Although it is not recommended that you bring your children along, but some have. You're right, she is 2 and you know how they can be at that age sometimes (I went through two terribles 2's myself). Do you have any family members, friends or neighbors that may be able to help you out and babysit. You may need someone for only a few hours.

[newimges]

The last thing you need is the added stress of having to take your 2 year old to the meeting with you.

There weren't any children when we went to our 341 meeting. I had my 16 year old daughter stay home from school and watch our 4 year old.

[kl030505]

It's daycare or she comes with us. Our attorney said that it was fine that she come (she's been at every attorney meeting we have had thus far, and has done exceptionally well), I just wondered if anyone had been through it. I don't think we will have a choice.

[coma]

I had them at both 341s I've had and our hearing about our objection back in the beginning. Since my (hopefully) last 341 is on the 4th at 8, and I have no one to get them to school and an hour drive to the court, I'm taking them again. They were 4 and 6 when we started this process and are 6 and 8 now. They were never a problem. We sat them in the front row and brought books. It's worked out for us, especially since we had no other choice

[Cassiopeia]

We had a thread about that just a couple of months ago, with a lot of good responses. Try to do a search for it. (I'm too lazy right now, sorry! )

[magyar123]

"Progressive" buildings might even have on-site day-care centers for children of the employees in that building. Find out, and slip the kids' supervisors a few bucks to watch your kids while you're at the hearing.

[ameliabedilia]

I say just quit stressing and take her with you. Bring snacks that she doesn't normally get and a stroller for her to sit in while she is eating so that might help keep her quiet. I for one am not comfortable leaving my kids in new places with people I don't know, and most drop in places in my experience require a registration fee, shot records etc... Listen to your lawyer and just take her.

[ohwell]

i took our 5 month old with us, not a problem. I was worried, but we have no one to watch her. Our trustee could care less, barely looked up at us.

[genseeker]

At our 341 there was a couple with 3 kids, a toddler and twin infants. The infants slept and the toddler colored during the parents' interview. I did see the trustee speak with the atty when they came in and he moved to them quickly. It seemed the trustee wanted to get them out quickly but not that it was a bad thing really, he seemed to understand the parents had no choice. He shook the toddler's hand and commented on how cute the babies were.

[rilbrianne]

We almost had to take our daughter, she was about 9 months old but we found a friend who could take her at the last minute. It was a hassle to work around schedules and all but it worked out.

I was told in the thread I started, that it wouldn't be a good idea but when you have no other option... well, you have no other option. Someone had mentioned calling a local daycare to take her just for a few hours, another idea is hiring a babysitter just for that time (which may be hard to find someone who will do that but it's an option).

I hope you can find an alternative to taking her but if not, it wouldn't be the first time that a child has been taken to the meeting. Don't worry about something you can't change. Just take enough goodies to keep her occupied. All you can do is hope they get you up there quickly before she gets tired of being quiet The problem is that you may be set up for 9am but may not actually be "interviewed" until 10 or later, depending on how many people are there and how far down you are on the list.

And I'm sure most of these trustees have had kids before, I'm sure they understand.

[newimges]

Don't worry about it. It's not like they can prohibit children.

My meeting was scheduled at 11 am but we didn't get called until 12:30 but we didn't have an attorney so we were called last.

Good luck!

[whatamess]

I saw people with kids at the courthouse. Im sure it happens all the time. No big deal. Someone even had an elderly mother whom they care for.
Just take her if you dont have family or a trusted close friend. I never advocate leaving a child with a stranger.
WAM

[DisneyGirl]

We took our two sons (ages 4 and 18 months) to our 341 meeting. We just sat in the back and they did fine. Good luck!

[a.fla]

We have to bring our kids most likely...at least my 4-year-old who is hyper without sugar....bringing her a snack she doesn't normally get would set her to major speed mode. We are going to be very new to the state we're moving to and can't just shove her anywhere to convenience the trustee and people who wouldn't want to hear her talk. We'll try to keep her quite and calm, but what can you do right? I'm sure they can't kick you out of there for having your child with you so we'll just have to suck it up like they will have to! Maybe they'll rush us out of there....she can be pretty stressful.