This song from My Fair Lady, often runs through my head, on my way to church.
My big boys, including my husband, have to be at church by 8:30 in order to set up chairs. Harmony, the younger boys and I, leave a bit later.
I often wonder, why we are late to church. We are never late to school. Which starts at 8:10. It is a good question right? Maybe because we don't get tardies for being late to church?
Growing up, if we were late to church (after we had our drivers licenses) we would get the stare down from my Dad as we made our way to our seat. It was even worse if I/we had wet hair, "because if you were going to be late, you might as well be fully ready". My Dad's motto? "If you aren't 10 minutes early, than you are late!"
I don't follow his rule, but I don't like to be late either.
So how do I get to church on time? By doing as much at night as possible!!! For the kids I:
Baths---> I only have one child who is allowed to take a shower in the morning. He is up by 6:00 every morning, so I never have to worry. Everyone else takes one on Saturday. No matter what.
Church clothes---> Before my kids are allowed to play video games on Saturday, they have to have their church clothes ready. We don't take them at their word, they have to physically show their Dad or I, their white shirts, ties, socks, shoes and make sure their pants are clean. Harmony has multiple church outfits (benefits of being a girl!) so I generally don't worry about her.
Church bag---> Yes, I still take a church bag. Many people don't. Many people do. Some it depends on the ages of their children. My two youngest, for my sanity, are still allowed to bring a few things to church. Everything is prepped the night before, including a water bottle and a bag with a snack.
Breakfast---> simple & easy only. Cereal. Toast. A yogurt. Also, no syrup. Its too messy. I don't need that mess to deal with! Aprons work too!
Do you have any ideas or suggestions? I would love to hear them! Stay tuned for next week when we talk about how to get yourself out of the house on time!
1 comment:
Sometimes we resort to pop tarts as we walk out the door. But really? The only technique that has ever worked for me is to declare that I'm getting there sometime earlier than I need to. Choir practice is good for this. Doesn't work so well when one parent has early meetings, but with one parent to hold fort in nursery it's done well by us. And the kids have gotten to really like 15 to 20 cool down time in nursery before meetings start.
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