Are YOU Ready for Sunday??

Sundays are crazy days around our house.  If anything is going to go wrong, it will go wrong on a Sunday. Shoes vanish, breakfast gets spilled down the front of dresses (or ties), Bibles mysteriously disappear, children get into fights, the dog messes on the floor, or worse, gets run over (that makes for a really bad Sunday), the crackers you bought for your Sunday School class get eaten by your hungry son who couldn't possibly have waited another 10 minutes for his breakfast...the list is endless!! 

I don't have time to tell you about the funniest, weirdest thing that ever happened to me in this post, but if you are interested you can go here to read about it here.  I must be a magnet for strange, unpredictable things!!

I finally decided that enough was enough!  I was going to have to be more organized if I wanted to be any good on Sundays.  Here are a few things that help me out:

Saturday:

• Clean your bathrooms and your kitchen
• Lay out everyone's clothes right down to hair bows, undies, socks and shoes
• Plan Sunday's lunch.  If you can eat out it would help with time.  If not, get a crock pot and put Sunday's lunch in it on Saturday night.  Put the insert in the fridge. I have 3 meals that are "SUNDAY MEALS".  They are some of our favorite, so we don't get tired of them, but they are also convenient, crock pot meals.  Don't do anything too messy like Spaghetti. 
• Take out trash and be sure the house is clean so that you don't worry about coming home to a messy house on Sunday morning. You'll enjoy church more that way too.
• Do a load of laundry...especially if you need something for the next day.
• Pack all diaper bags, purses (and teach your daughters to pack theirs own) and Sunday School bags on Saturday night.  I have a basket by the door.  All purses and bags go in the basket so they can be picked up by their owners on the way out the door.
• Put all Bibles in the right bags or beside the right purses so that they are ready too.
• Get Sunday School snacks ready on Saturday night.
• Have everyone take showers on Saturday night.
• I try to have my house spotless on Saturday night so that I don't have much to do on Sunday.  The less you have to do the better off you'll be.  And the bigger you chances of being on time and in a good mood!!

Sunday:

• First thing I do - put the insert in the crock pot and turn it on.  
• Wake up the kids.  They should have their clothes all laid out for them from the night before.  (Older children should be able to lay their own out.)  Let them get dressed while you get them breakfast.
• Breakfast on Sunday mornings at our house is a piece of toast with peanut butter and a banana, or sometimes we might do something different and have biscuits with honey, in which case I usually make the biscuits the night before.  
• Sunday lunch should be something that doesn't make a huge mess.  Spaghetti is probably not a good idea.  
• Children should help set and clear the table, wash dishes, sweep floor - whatever needs to be done.  
• Sunday naps are a must at our house!  No better way to spend a Sunday than napping!!
• Sunday dinner...we do it simple.  Order pizza, or better still make it yourself and freeze it ahead of time.  Throw it in the oven and let it heat while the kids are getting ready for bed and you are packing whatever lunches may need to be packed for Monday.  Lots of the time, we just do cereal or sandwiches for dinner on Sunday night.  

These are a few of the things that have helped me out.  If you have any ideas that help you out, I'd love to hear them.