My Love/Hate Relationship with Sundays- part 1

"Welcome, welcome, Sabbath morning, Now we rest from every care." Luckily we don't sing this song much any more. I have a hard time getting through that first line without cracking up. Rest from every care? I looked to see who wrote it. Robert Baird. Yep. A man. Clearly he didn't have to get 7 children ready for church. I know I shouldn't say it, but very often, I hate Sundays. They're hard. Now that we have 11 o'clock church it's better, but still. My morning is a mixture of getting breakfast, referee-ing fights, getting clothes ready (ironing if I didn't do it on Saturday, my bad), getting a shower, doing my hair and makeup, putting the church bag together, referee again, getting kids dressed, making sure the teenagers are up and getting dressed. Then, we load into the cars and it's off to church. Which is it's own set of challenges. Bathroom visits before sacrament meeting, drinks, then getting settled in. My husband and I sit on opposite ends of the bench. We need vests with a big SMBP stitched on the back. Sacrament Meeting Border Patrol. That's us. I sit back for an hour of wrestling, shushing, and giving the 'you-are-in-so-much-trouble' stare to the teens. We color, try to quietly play with cars. Balls-they are strictly forbidden! Have you noticed that our chapels have the perfect slope to them, so that if you drop a bouncy ball on the floor, if it avoids feet and scriptures, it will end up at the front of the room? Sweet. Then there's the fact that my youngest regards me as his personal jungle-gym-in-a-dress. Why did I bother ironing? Reverence? That's the goal. Sort of a long-term goal. After Sacrament Meeting, I get to send them all to class. I'm sooooo grateful that I'm passed the baby stage. It's a relief to let their teachers (wonderful, kind angels) take them for two hours. Sunday school? I fight to stay awake. Sorry, but I just spent an hour with my kids trying to remake the WWF. We have great teachers, but sometimes it's just too much. The last hour is my highlight. Young Women's. I can sit with these perfectly behaved, always modestly dressed, ultra-reverent girls. (Yes, I'm joking. I speak sarcasm fluently.) The lessons are always great, though, and I do love that class. Then, it's out to the hall. You know they call the ward a flock? Well, after church it's like a roundup. The only thing missing is moo's and baa's. We manage to get the kids out to the car and get home. (Except for the time we forgot Max. Luckily, we live close and he walked. He won't let us forget it, tho'.) Home, now we rest, right? Ha. More referee-ing, lunch, some TV (I know many people don't watch tv on Sunday. More power to you.), and dinner. When we can finally send them to bed, I collapse on mine with visions of the school bus dancing in my head. Do I ever love Sundays? Of course. Tune in tomorrow and I'll tell you about it.