Sunday survival

Simon, who woke up at 5 AM this morning, didn't want to sleep a wink in church today. He has become quite the attention-aholic. He's discovered that his loud squeals get all kinds of looks during quiet adult meetings. He and I spent a lot of time walking the halls. During the third hour (when I was SURE he would finally fall asleep) he smelled ripe. I took him into a small bathroom stall-- with a single toilet and sink-- to change his diaper. We went into the bathroom with the pacifier in his mouth. After I changed him, I couldn't find it anywhere... and I NEEDED that thing to pacify him to sleep. I looked all over and under, while scratching my head. After a minute or two, I saw something unusual in the toilet. Great. I fished it out with my hand and had to boil it at home. Luckily, he kept quiet during the rest of the meeting with a few animal crackers. That kid is happy as long as something is in his mouth. I believe he gets that from his mother.

Zack gave his first talk in Primary today. I wrote it during Sacrament meeting. He insisted on talking about Ammon-- the guy who chops off the arms of all bad guys. I have tried to explain to him that if/when he goes on a mission, it probably won't be that exciting. Zack doesn't like when I shoot down his dreams of chopping off arms and told me that he didn't want my help giving the talk. I shed a tear as he explained why big brother Ben would be a better person to help him. Ben took the job very seriously and had to elbow Zack several times during the talk. Zack got a bit of stage fright and kept both thumbs in his mouth while at the podium. Never in my life have I seen Zack so reserved. There may be some hope for the kid after all.

I came home from church completely exhausted. This 8 AM business is cramping my style. While eating pancakes for our second breakfast, Ben announced that Sundays are no longer his favorite day because Dad's not around anymore. I told him to join the club. Zack stood up very cheerfully and announced, "EVERY day is MY favorite day! Because EVERY day we can have the Holy Ghost!" I smiled and felt grateful for kids who say the right things just when I need to hear them.

I am also grateful for babies who sleep for 6 hours straight after a long day at church. I needed a nap and a bit of quiet time before taking on the second half of the day. It's now 7 PM and the kids and I are headed outside for a long walk. The air is breezy and the sun is going down. I never thought the day would come when I feel relieved that the weekend is over. Never say never, whatever you do.