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This post is part of the No More Frumpy Mommy Moms’ Night Out Challenge, happening now through May 22. YOU can join, too! You might win $200 or tickets to see Moms’ Night Out if you participate! Are you participating and want to leave your link to today’s challenge? Read through this post, then link up at the bottom! Here are the challenges:
- Easy Hair by Tricia Goyer — What’s your secret to easy, no-fuss hair?
- How to Get to Church on Time (with Kids) by Tricia Goyer — What tips do you have for getting your family to church on time?
- A Fast Recipe that Doesn’t Include Chicken Nuggets by Kerri Pomarolli — What’s your go-to, easy recipe?
- Fun Ways to Exercise with Your Kids by Tricia Goyer — How do you involve your kids in your exercise routine?
- Take Time for Mom-Friends by Kerri Pomarolli — What’s your favorite way to spend time with your mom-friends?
- Simple Makeup for Busy Moms by Tricia Goyer — What are your favorite tips for no-fuss makeup?
- A Fast Recipe that Doesn’t Involve Fish Sticks by Tricia Goyer — Share your easy, go-to recipe for your family!
- Quick Cleaning Tips by Kerri Pomarolli — What are your quick cleaning tips for busy moms?
- Finding Time to Follow Your Dreams by Tricia Goyer — How do you make time to follow your dreams?
How to Get to Church on Time . . . with Kids
I don’t know about you but Sundays are always a struggle for me. It’s hard to get to church . . . on time.
Currently, I’m not only getting myself ready. I have three little kids ages six, four, and three, and then there’s my grandma to help, too. Why are we late? I underestimate the time it takes to get everyone ready. (And I won’t comment about my husband and young adult son who we need to get into the car, too. A-hem.)
So, I decided to ask some of my friends to give me their best advice. Here are 17 tips!
1. I’ve had this conversation before with friends. Why is it we make sure we get the kids to school on time or can wake up super early and be excited for a flight or getting into Disneyland early? We should be just as excited for church. But yes, I get myself ready first and then the kids get up. My husband is usually already gone as he helps in the children’s ministry and if we ever have to the kids eat in the car. It’s a twenty-minute drive. —Crystal
2. Prioritize it! Get to bed early and prep the clothes and breakfast in advance. —Gabrielle
3. Wake up early, get yourself ready, start waking everyone else up, begin breakfast—then fix the children’s hair! —Linda
4. Get up earlier than you think you need to. —Stephanie
5. Go to the late service. Ours is at 1:00 p.m. —Debbie
6. Plan an extra hour for getting ready, just in case of diaper blowouts and big kid meltdowns. —Kathryn
7. Lay clothes out the night before and use prepared breakfast (like bags or bowls of cereal already fixed/and/or crockpot breakfasts). Make sure Bibles are laid out and whatever else is needed for ministry, etc. OR even go ahead and put them in the car the evening before. Shower the night before so that the only things you need to do are eat breakfast and dress. No TV, no electronics, etc. Make sure you let the kids take ownership in this. As long as they have ownership, they are more likely to participate and participate joyfully! —Laura
8. Dry cereal for breakfast in a snack trap, and I get myself ready first. Daddy brushes girls’ hair and I fix it. I pick out the clothes and he helps dress them. Teamwork! —Sarah
9. Getting everything together the night before, even trying clothes on to make sure they still fit. For some reason kids grow fast from one Sunday to the next, leaving you with high-water pants if you are not careful! —Sharla
10. Watch Moms’ Night Out‘!!! There is no such thing, something will mess it up. Loved that movie. —Anita
11. I’ll share the funniest tip I ever heard. Years ago I was a MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) leader. One mom had three sons under five and attended our church. Her boys were always picture-perfect every Sunday. I had three boys, too, who were a bit older, but we always managed to arrive without someone’s shoes or breakfast on a least one shirt. Her secret? She proudly informed us, “I put them all in the dry tub naked, give them dry bowls of sugar sweetened ‘Sunday cereal’ so they don’t drop a bit, and then dress them one by one and load them straight into the car.” A bit extreme for me, but then it did seem to work! —Allison
12. A pastor’s wife told me one time she would let her little ones sleep in their clothes. —Gwyn
13. There were four of us girls to get ready—and I remember Mama setting out everything the night before—even tucked our offering envelopes into those white patent shoes. —Mitzi
14. Clothes picked out the day or night before, tote bags with Bible ready by the door, even having part of breakfast ready the night before (i.e. cereal already decided upon and in the bowl, breakfast table already set, muffins already made, etc.), showered and bathed before bed (even if you are in the habit of doing it in the morning, this one day will be the exception), and one of the biggest things that helped us in our household . . . early bedtimes. Friday nights were the only nights they were allowed to stay up late. —Diana
15. I pick out clothes the night before. Since we have food allergies, when I’m on top of it, I also get their snacks ready the night before. —Jenny
16. We used to try to be ready early so we could sit around the living room discussing last week’s sermon and singing some hymns together. —Jill
17. Bribery works well. Get ready on time, and we’ll go to the donut shop. –Cheri
I love these and I have some new ideas for Sunday! What about you? What’s your best advice?
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Prep clothes night before…the biggest downfall is SHOES for us….make sure they are set out and BOTH there AND fit! Pack some dry cereal in your tote….you might get a poky eater and then you just pack and go and let them snack in church…hey, it’s NOT sacreligious to snack a kid in church quietly as long as you pick up dropped crumbs aftewards! 🙂 Diaper blow outs are NOT gonna be predicatable but hey, getting to church and changing the diaper there isn’t the worst, esp. if hubbers takes the other kids and sits down…people understand a mom with a little one coming in afterwards.
As a pastor’s wife, I have had moments of success and moments of meltdown when it came to getting to worship on time. Many Sunday mornings, my husband leaves before 6:30 so it is up to myself to bring the kids at a later time. I’ve learned that routine is key. Every other day of the week we have routine for school so why not for Sunday? Do we let them watch t.v. on weekday mornings? Why let them watch it on Sundays? Also, staying consistent is important. One Sunday morning my youngest son absolutely refused to change his clothes. It was a battle not worth having. I told him he was not changing out of his pajamas once we were in the car. He wore them to church and many people asked why he was wearing them. The topping on the cake? We go out for lunch almost every week and I did not let us stop to let him change so he got to sit in the restaurant with his pajamas also. He has always changed into church clothes since that Sunday.
Hi, Tricia!
I must have been mostly numb every Sunday morning, because I do not remember anything about it! Ha!
However, I do remember my mom getting 5 kids, ages 2-10 ready every morning, and the way she did it was to get our dad ready first. Then he sat in the living room and read the Sunday papers while she got us kids ready, beginning with the oldest. Then our corporate jobs were:
1. Kids had to sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing.
2. Dad had to make that happen.
When Mom was ready, off we’d go!
A great bi-product of all that sitting was that we were SO GLAD to get up and go to church, when she finally released us. 🙂
I start about three hours before church, lol. Make breakfast. then wake them. Soon as they are done eating I make dad yell at them to go get ready. That usually works. I am OCD about being early, to everywhere I go, so if I am running behind then my entire day will be a mess