Sunday Thoughts: Sunday Activities.
I really hate it in church when people have extensive debates about what is appropriate on the Sabbath. I don't want my daughter to watch any TV on Sunday but in the end that just makes the day less restful for me. And the people who are the most militant about not cleaning on Sunday have dirty homes all week. I think if someone came over and cleaned my house and then made me dinner they are doing service and then I wouldn't be breaking the sabbath and neither would they.
So hopefully someone else will come over and paint my kitchen next Sunday.
Sunday is also a wonderful time for reflection.
Let's reflect on this week.
This week was a little bit melodramatic I think. But I really did think I was dying/friendless/never going to get our house fixed. Maybe on Sunday we can do a little activity: get a sheet of paper and make three columns: normal, melodramatic, and ignored. You can write down when you overreacted and when you let yourself get walked all over. Like when that "friend" told you she knew you were a large when you are actually a small.
Of course I am not a small so that would never make my list. But that is a Sunday activity- thinking about what I maybe overreacted to. Like setting a list of goals- Goal: don't yell at my mom for asking if I need something to eat but do yell at the girl who criticizes my cooking even though she's never cooked for me.
I find myself either ignoring things or being completely unreasonable. I also find myself wanting to landscape and clean my house on Sunday. If I find it calming to have it done than doing it is resting, right?
The other solution is to do lots of baking on Sunday, and writing letters. I used to write letters in church, which would also help me not get bothered by crazy things that some people say. Since now I primarily entertain myself with caring for children in church I don't leave quite as rested. Last week I thought for a long time about how we could build a kid pen in the chapel- just a section of chairs where people could sit and they could still hear but the children couldn't run up to the stand. I think the biting and hitting children shouldn't be allowed in the box, with a one strike and week and you are out. Or I could use some of those good kids that just sit and color rather than trying to climb on top of my head and color on their friends.
Good thing I'm still getting in that spiritual help to get me through the week, right? I didn't actually go to church today because I pulled my skirt out of my bag and it turned out to be pants and then Mark fell asleep so I stayed home. Then he screamed at me a lot while John was gone. On the plus side I also didn't clean anything because we are staying with Mark and Sara and their house is quite clean.
My week Goals:
Finish the Downstairs Bathroom Tile
Put up two shelves in the basement and organize a bit down there
Put all my laundry away. Not that I have a big pile I haven't put away yet because that would never happen...
Work out three times.
Take Danielle to her Dance class.
Sign Danielle up for gymnastics.
Do my visiting teaching.
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I really like the idea of the playpen idea and the one strike and your out. I also like the idea of having a room--not a stinky changing diaper room--but a really big room that is cool and has a lot of really comfy chairs and has a speaker where you can hear the people speaking and parents can go there with their little kids and listen or talk to each other or both. also, somehow I became "The Madsens" I'm not sure how that happened, but it is me, Kathryn.
I think you packed pants on purpose so you could have a nap. I would like a nap too. Good work.
I have one of those biting/hitting kids. He'd strike out pretty quick...LOL. We're working on it. He's biting less lately, even though he's still working on his lower molars. Tons of ladies in DC would wear pants to church. I'm not sure why; maybe coming from work.
The speaker at church talked about this time when a really old general authority was speaking when he was a stake president. The general authority struggled to speak when children were present and there was one particularly fussy one on the second row, and the GA was worrying about his talk. The man got up on the stand and politely invited all the children to the cry room. According to the speaker, the best part of it was that no one was offended. It was a super random story and didn't really relate to his talk (except to show how many GA he had interacted with through his life). I kind of felt guilty, but I was a bit offended for the mothers in the story. Church isn't always the most welcoming place for children.
Guess what? Clear blue skies today not one cloud-maybe we should have talked John into skipping school today...