Last year our family was inspired by Elder Oaks' conference talk on the importance of the Sacrament meeting. You can read it here. This year our family is trying to improve on getting to church on time. In fact, we’d like to be early. Some weeks we make it. Many weeks we’re still late. But I’ve found a few simple things that help us.
1. I’ve made it a point to always keep frozen waffles stocked in our freezer. No one is allowed to eat them unless it is Sunday morning. That way I know they’ll be there. This ensures that we can eat a decent Sunday breakfast as a family, but we don’t have to spend a lot of time preparing and eating. That used to be one of our downfalls. We’ve got the frozen waffles thing down by now. Our next pitfall is...
2. We can never find what we need: a missing shoe, a clean outfit for Zach, my props for singing time, a well-stocked diaper bag, etc. So now we are working on finding and preparing all those things the night before. It takes a little planning, but it makes things run so much smoother.
I am proud to announce that last Sunday we actually arrived to church 15 minutes early. It was a miracle…and so much more enjoyable might I add. After we master the preparation step, we will work on our next pitfall, which is...
3. Going to bed early on Saturday night. This is going to be the hardest one to give up. I don’t think I’m ready to quit staying up late on Saturday nights. For me it will be like admitting that I am getting old. Stay tuned to find out if I actually come to terms with this reality. (FYI, this might not happen until after this July when Adam turns thirty. Eek!)
Do you have any “tricks” that help you get to church on time or more prepared? Do tell! I welcome any helpful suggestions. Even if you are a stranger or you don’t want me to know you have read my blog. Because seriously, I don‘t mind. (Unless, of course, you are creepy. Then I do mind.)
Here’s one piece of advice I absolutely LOVE. A very wise bishop’s-wife once told me “Dana, you must take your vitamins in the morning before you come to church. Otherwise you won’t have enough energy.” This was just before I took over her calling as Primary Chorister. Another wise woman once told me that Primary Chorister is the funnest calling in the church. And I think she’s right. Tomorrow I get to use sugar and Legos in my lesson! Thanks Sugardoodle.com! Oops...I mean SugarDoodle.net. Apparently Sugardoodle dot-COM is fully dedicated to kittens. Hmmm...that's cute.
5 comments:
you already have my "get ready the night before trick" listed. that's my one trick. sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't...usually when i put off getting ready the night before it doesn't work, haha. also, i recommend no showers the morning of...i know, i know, this sounds disgusting, but i shower the night before and figure "hey, there's about 12 hours between my shower and now and that's just like staying out really late on a friday night after showering really early on a friday morning." i do love a freshly bathed baby and sean is home before church now b/c his meetings were moved to after church, yay us:-), so i put him on baby bathing duty...for now...wow, that was a long comment...oops! are you joing my bloggin' bookies club!?!
So my "trick" of yelling at everyone to hurry up and GET TO THE CAR!!! isn't an effective tool in getting everyone to church on time. I do like your ways better. That snickerdoodle primary site is a really good one....although I did really like the cat site too.
Dana I am glad to see you have a blog. Even though we still get to see you briefly on some Sundays this is a much easier way to keep up with you and your family. Rachel has a blog as well- her link is on my blog. I love your list for Sundays, We will for sure be trying some of these things it seems we are always late since the time change.
I take a shower and have my hair all ready the night before, that way I don't have to spend a lot of time getting myself ready. This is painful, but I get up early on Sunday's so I can it all done. I'm not an early riser, but if it's the only chance I have of getting me and the kids to church on time without husband help! And like you said, getting stuff ready the night before.
That 'go to bed early' trick can be worked to your advantage. It has been our experience that when our KIDS stay up late on Saturday, they sleep a little longer Sunday morning, allowing for Mom to get showered, dressed, made up, fed,etc. before the chaos ensues. A ready mom is a calm mom in our house, and that makes a big difference! But... this tactic stinks for a 9am schedule. That's when we turn to the 'cereal in a baggy for the car' breakfast. I am with you though on getting out of the house. I am going to die next year when Romney starts school at 7:50 am. Oh dread.
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