Sunday Woes

What a day it has been. It started with Jason being called in to work when there was a chemical spill here on base. Not only was I going to be doing church alone with two kids, but it was Stake Conference. Awesome. I can't survive one hour of sacrament meeting going solo with the kids, so you can imagine how excited I was to do 2 hours on my own.

It actually didn't go as badly as I thought. I offered a pleading prayer before leaving that I would be able to keep my cool and Graham would be calm and hold relatively still. My prayer was answered in many ways. We sat by an awesome family that had amazing toys, books, and treats to help keep my kids entertained. The first hour and 1/2 was great, but then Graham realized that he didn't have to stay in the little row we were sitting in and began his escape attempts. We survived the ordeal and only left 10 minutes early (much to Lucy's dismay because she wanted to dance in the hallways until it was over).

I was actually able to listen to some of the speakers as I wrestled with the kiddos. I heard many messages that I needed. One sister talked about being better member missionaries. We need to pray for opportunities to share the gospel. and if we are sincere, they will come. I find myself praying for them, but then deep down, I'm scared they'll come. I know I need to take advantage of chances that I have to bear my testimony to others. My problem is that I don't recognize the opportunity until it has come and gone. I need to work on that.

The real Sunday woes began after church. Our neighbors called and invited Lucy to go play on their water slide outside. Jason told them that she couldn't today, but maybe next time. Lucy didn't even know they were playing until she walked out to the garage and saw them. She asked me if she could go and I told her that we don't play in the water on Sunday and she wigged out.........big time! She screamed, yelled, kicked, and stomped for over an hour. We told her that her crying was hurting our ears, so she needed to go to her room. She stomped her feet all the way back there, slammed the door and proceeded to yell things like, "My mom and dad are so mean! They won't let me play! I'm going to cry until they let me!" or "They get to have fun......I get to be bored!" or my personal favorite, "This can't be happening!" She'd come out after 5 minutes, ask us again, we'd say no, then she'd start wailing, we'd send her back to her room to start the cycle again. What a struggle. We suggested lots of fun things we would do with her, but she wouldn't be swayed. In fact, we told her we could make cookies and take them to our neighbors. She said, "We could do that after dinner." I said, "Why do you want to wait until after dinner?" She said, "Because I want to swim right now!" It's hard for her to understand why they get to play and she doesn't. I don't want her to hate Sundays, but can you blame her if she does? No playing with friends, no morning cartoons, no playing in the water. I don't really know how to teach her WHY we need to keep Sabbath Day holy. I've explained that Heavenly Father has asked us to spend Sunday with our families and to rest from the things we do on normal days. Any suggestions? Do any of you have the same struggle? What do you do?