Sundays used to be torture around here.
A day of rest and worship, almost always turned into whining about what they couldn't do, fighting because they were bored, and me constantly "shushing" them, because Mike has to sleep after he gets home from church and his meetings from 3-10, since he was to work all night.
On top of that, battling the three of them on my own (since Mike got called into the Bishopric) and 2 hours of Primary president duty left me exhausted.
I used to HATE Sundays.
No more.
I decided to make some changes weeks ago to Sundays.
3 changes, to be exact.
1) "I Can Keep the Sabbath Day Holy" dessert.
SO cheesy, right?
I made a list of all of the things they CAN do on Sundays and hung it on the fridge. Every Saturday (or Sunday) I make a fun dessert. They get the dessert after dinner if they are reverent during Sacrament meeting and complete 5 things on the list:
Read a chapter in the scriptures
Play a Primary CD and sing along
Write an e-mail to Elder Rice
Write a letter to family
Read an article in the Friend
Read a story in the Friend to a sibling
Play a quiet game with a sibling
Act out a scripture story
Write in your journal
It has worked out sooo beautifully; I haven't heard one request to play the computer or watch TV or play Wii since we started... and NO whining. Blissful.
2) Sunday Puzzle
We got a puzzle keeper and a 550-piece puzzle. It only comes out on Sundays. We work on it together and talk and laugh, and when it's dinner-time, we put it away until the next week. We all love puzzles and this makes it extra-special.
3) Special Sunday Dinner
During the week we have super-easy meals. Life is too busy for anything but super-easy meals. On Sundays we have started making a slightly more elaborate dinner together. We each do a part. It's special and I love it. We work together and then when we eat, everyone compliments the other on their part. It's been SO great!
Yes, she's breading raw chicken. Something I couldn't do until I was 21.
Sundays are a little more work nowadays with making dessert and dinner, BUT they are truly now a day of rest and worship and I no longer dread them.
I look forward to them now.
Too fun!
2 comments:
That is awesome! And I can attest, it really works! I was there, and the kids were ready to get to their Sunday list, right after Uncle Ethan, Aunt Cameo and Grammy left. They were going to make an awesome dinner, Adam's mashed potatoes, Grace's pumpkin bars. It was soooo tempting to stay!
Those are great ideas! Sundays can be hard but I am glad you found a way to make it enjoyable.
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