Sunday, January 06, 2008

Oh, what a Beautiful Morning, Oh, what a Beautiful Day!

Today marked our first day of MORNING church and what a MARVELOUS sabbath it was! In 2007, this is how my typical Sunday went:

6:00 am - kids wake up, Jon takes them on a morning walk for an hour or two (depending on the weather) while I catch a few extra zzzzzs.
8:30 am - eat breakfast as a family.
9:00 - shower, dress.
9:30 - lounge around, listening to MoTab and Music and the Spoken Word.
10:30 - Jon leaves for meetings (he is the 1st Counselor in our Ward's Bishopric), and thus begins my day as a "single parent".
11:00 - Try to coax the kids into eating something for lunch, though they are usually not yet hungry enough.
11:15 - begin dressing for church (and then try to keep myself and the children somewhat presentable ie - clothes are pressed (?) and food-free, Makea's hair is still done and not yet pulled out as somehow always seems to manage to happen as we are out the door)
12:10 - make sure the diaper bag is packed with plenty of things to eat and do (and a few thing for the kids too, haha).
12:15 - walk to church.
12:30 - arrive at church, secure the back row and set out the programs.
1:00 - sit in sacrament meeting ALONE with a 1 and 2 year old who have not eaten lunch and for whom it is undoubtedly naptime, and attempt to keep both kids in the pew, somewhat quiet and prevent tantrums/outbursts/fights, while Jon looks helplessly on from the stand. Oh, and amidst all that I am supposed to try to LISTEN to the talks. (and feel the Spirit? huh?)
4:00 - return home with 2 VERY tired children, try to get something on the table for dinner while trying NOT to let them nap as it would push back their bedtime.
5:00 - Dinner.
5:30 - baths.
6:00 - bedtime (one good thing about no naps is the EARLY bedtime!).
If we are lucky, Jon will get home in time to say goodnight, but usually he is stuck at the church until later.

So, 2008 is definitely looking up! This was our day today:
6:00 am - kids up, Jon and I try to coax them into snuggling with us since they were both up half the night screaming...but they insist on getting UP!
6:30 - breakfast.
7:00 - Jon leaves for meetings.
7:15 - I shower and dress 2 happy, energetic children.
We are out the door by 8:15 and at church in time to set out the programs and get a seat.
9-12 - Church with 2 HAPPY, RESTED children is SO much better than church during naptime! (Granted, sacrament meeting is now at the end of the block, much to my chagrin, so the kids are getting sleepy, but the right snacks can keep them going until noon!)
12:30 - Home, Lunch, Naps.
1:30 - Jon comes home and we try to sneak in a nap before the kids wake up.
2:00 - Kids wake up, and we have ALL KINDS OF FAMILY TIME - listen to music, snuggle, watch a church movie, build a snowman (not an every-Sunday occurrence, but this is the first time all season we had snowman-feasible snow, so we HAD to take advantage), hot cocoa, more snuggles, card games.

AH, I LOVE family time! Thank you, 9am church!!!!

1 comment:

Natalie said...

I've been worried about getting two children to church by myself. I am not a morning person and Hannah doesn't normally get up until 8 or 8:30. We always have church at nine, and Taylor has had meetings before church since before Hannah was born. So I struggle just to get Hannah and I to church on time. Yesterday I didn't do too bad getting ready, but then I had some help from Taylor because he came home after his meetings to get us. Then during Sacrament Meeting Taylor was released! So luckily I don't have to do it alone anymore (well, unless he gets a new calling where he has meetings...).