Sunday Snuggles

Sundays are never easy in the Stannix household and rarely can they be described as peaceful. This morning we got a bit of a late start. I've been so tired since Lily is cutting teeth and half of my nights are spent on the couch. Camilla wasn't feeling well, so she went back to bed. I had to ask more than three times for a few of the boys to finally get their church clothes on. When I finally managed to get everyone out the door, I realized I hadn't eaten breakfast yet. I quickly toasted a bagel while the big boys belted the littles into car seats. I went out to the van to discover that Lily hadn't been belted in yet and could have rolled right out of her seat. Two of the boys decided to start a fight in the back seat and a couple other children were yelling at each other. I took a deep breath, set my bagel down on the edge of the seat and quickly jumped in the van. As I was doing up her seat belt, the dog jumped in behind me and snatched up my bagel! It was the last straw. With tears brimming in my eyes I raised my fist to the sky and shouted at Sonny, "Hey! That's my breakfast!!" I chased him furiously around the yard until I got back my slobbery bagel, and then threw it in the garbage. I started the van with tears streaming down my cheeks, feeling rather like I hated Sunday mornings. After watching me run around the yard screaming at the dog, the boys remained silent for the entire drive to church.

We managed to get there nice and early, which meant keeping everyone quietly on the bench for a little while before the meeting began. Finley played the role of ever loyal brother, picking up every toy Lily purposely dropped. There were a couple of boys determined to make my life difficult. After splitting them up, one of them began GIGGLING in my face, like me quietly disciplining them was funny. I felt my face get hot and tears sting my eyes. I spent the entire meeting fighting with them. Half way through Sawyer began making a bridge over the benches with his legs and Lily was shrieking so loudly it hurt my ears. I scooped one under each arm and made my way to the mothers room. I came back five minutes later to all three boys standing and hissing through their teeth at each other. My face grew red with embarrassment and I about hauled everyone out to go home right then. I sent a screeching Lily to the hall with Hyrum, rearranged the kids on the bench and grit my teeth for the last ten minutes. 

There have been plenty of Sundays where I come home from church feeling defeated, and wondering if it was worth all of the effort. I know deep down it is, but some days are just plain hard! 

Those feelings all melted away pretty quickly after church when Camilla brought the kitties in to play. Lily would sit all day with a kitten pressed against her cheek if she could. 

We thankfully enjoyed a rather quiet and uneventful afternoon! I got to snuggle and read with a few of the children and naps were had by the littles.