The Perfect Sunday (doesn't exist)

Picture this: You get up to a quiet house on Sunday morning, have your cup of coffee, get ready for church, and make a big breakfast for your family.  Your happy children enjoy their food and then clear the table and help clean up the kitchen.  Everyone gets dressed in the clothes that were ironed and laid out the night before.  The kids are squeaky clean from their evening baths so you just have to do their hair, zip zippers and help with shoes and then everyone's ready to go.  On the way to church your kids sing praise songs while you and your husband visit about your plans for the day.  You get to church to deposit everyone in their Sunday School classes and then head into church with your husband.  The music is wonderful, the sermon is wonderful, and after church you enjoy time of fellowship with friends.  You head home with the family to a clean house and yummy lunch in the oven.  Wouldn't that be a perfect Sunday?

That doesn't really happen does it?  This is more like it:  You get up early so you can take your shower before the kids wake up and are halfway through when you hear the baby crying.  You finish as fast as possible to go get her before she wakes up anyone else.  Didn't work, and now half the kids are up.  You forget your "no TV before church rule" because you have to finish getting ready.  You can't find  your eyeliner and the shirt you had planned to wear is dirty.  By now everyone is awake and hungry so you rush them through cereal and into baths.  You really wish you would've gotten baths done on Saturday night but it just didn't happen.  After rushing them through baths the oldest goes to get dressed and comes back in purple striped leggings and an orange tank top.  Um, I don't think so.  Find a DRESS to wear!  She can't, so you stuff her into the first one you grab.  Meanwhile kid number four is on the table again and drinking out of the cereal bowls you hadn't gotten cleaned up yet.  Now she needs new clothes so you change her.  Kid number three goes potty and can't get his pants back up while kid number two battles to the death to wear sneakers with her sundress.  Your husband is grumpy and you are hungry.  You grab a Luna bar, slurp down some cold coffee and finish everyone's hair.  You finally get everyone out to the car and realize the baby has pooped.  Race back inside to change her, go back to the car to find kid numbers one and three fighting over the middle seat belt.  Neither uses it so that doesn't make sense.  Turn on the music and everyone complains wanting something else.  Say something to husband and a misunderstanding causes a fight that you haven't finished with by the time you get to church.  You drop kids off in Sunday school and realize the nursery worker didn't show, so you stay to help.  Your really fun group of two year olds' take turns crying and pooping and the pastor's sermon goes fifteen minutes long Again.  Parents finally meander in to pick up kids and you dash off to get your own.  You get everyone into church and your kids all need drinks and the potty.  After a sermon that you didn't hear because you are stilling thinking about that fight from earlier, you get everyone home and then wonder what quick thing you could make for lunch.  Macaroni and cheese?  Quesadillas?  Fast food would have been handy but just isn't in the budget and you forgot to get the crockpot idea from pinterest started last night.

So.  That's more like it isn't it?  Not every Sunday is that bad but NO Sunday is EVER like the first one.  And even though I know that I'm always expecting a little bit of The Perfect Sunday.  Instead, Sundays are really about survival when you have young kids.  With babies and toddlers who usually nap you have to deal with a fussy kid.  You have to figure out how to get yourself and all your kids ready, how to make lunch when you're not home, and how to focus on the sermon and what you're supposed to be learning today.

Adjust your expectations.  If you set your expectations lower you won't be as stressed.  I think it's stressful to come home to a messy house.  I need to adjust to that though because that's usually how it's gonna be.  Big fancy Sunday lunches are another thing I need to let go of.  It would be nice, but I just don't have the time for that.  Also, I need to not squeeze in extra things while trying to get to church.- either housework and laundry or errands.

Plan ahead.  If you take the time to plan ahead on Saturday evening, it can make Sundays less stressful.  Sometimes Saturdays are too busy for Sunday prep work but when it can be done,  it helps so much.  Start by thinking through your Sunday meals.  Plan something easy for breakfast like muffins or bagels.  Having the kids use napkins or paper plates makes clean up faster, as well as having the dishwasher unloaded the night before.  Sunday lunch is often a struggle for young families.  Eating out would be fun and so much easier but most just can't afford to eat out every Sunday.  (If you can, woohoo for you!).  Our oven has a delay start function so using that or the crockpot makes it possible to have food cooking and ready by the time we get home.  Things like frozen lasagna or chicken dump recipes are nice (several ingredients plus chicken dumped into the crock pot).  Or even easier - macaroni and cheese or quesadillas.

Get everyone's clothes ready the night before.  It never fails that when I don't do this someone can't find what they had wanted to wear.  I have kids who are "on and off" stinkers about their clothes.  Having them pick out things the night before eliminates some of the morning battles.  Clothes for six people is a lot of clothes, so it really helps my morning if everyone already knows what they are wearing.

Pray.  Even if you have a regular routine for your quiet times, it's easy to skip it on Sundays.  Don't do it though!  The enemy would LOVE for you to not make it to church.  He'd love for you end up there fighting with your spouse or frazzled from your morning.  Spending time with God to prepare yourself for church will help keep the enemy at bay.  One Sunday at church we were in the middle of singing and a lady came in a little late.  After she put her things down in her seat, I saw her bow and pray.  That was such a good reminder to me.  We need to prepare ourselves for worship.  Spend the time to get your head in the right place.  That might mean making peace with someone you've had a problem with.  It's hard to sit in front of the person you're angry with and have it not affect your ability to worship.  Or it might mean having a quick sidebar with your husband outside in order to get that disagreement ironed out.

Whatever you can do to make it easier for you, do it.  Maybe that means taking a shower the night before.  Or saving a little of your grocery money for a fast food lunch.  Or maybe that means saying "no" to some things on Saturdays because you need that extra time to get meals and clothes ready for Sunday.  It might mean waking up earlier to have more time on Sunday mornings.  Whatever you can think of that would make life easier, do it!  And give yourself emotional permission to do it.  Relax your expectations.  As moms, we set the tone and everyone else feels our stress.  I don't want my kids to feel inner stress because of lack of planning on my part.  I want Sundays to be a good experience for them.  If you have ideas on how you survive Sundays I would love to hear them!