Sunday Stray Cats

Ernie got up at 4:25 this morning because he has been assigned to be the high councilman for the Meridian, Mississippi ward, which is an hour and a half away. He had to leave by 5am to be there for bishopric meeting at 6:30am. I got up and made his lunch, because it just seemed highly inappropriate thinking of him swinging through a drive-thru to grab lunch on the way home from representing the Stake President. So, I packed him a little cooler with diet coke (of course), some sandwiches and fruit, and his favorite: raw carrots.

The kids and I had another good Sunday and I actually think that this might become the norm. We got there at 9:02am, right as the bishop was welcoming everyone and the pews were wide open, since no one is ever on time. I sat down with Kim Able and her kids. I had two reasons for sitting with Kim:

1. Her husband is also on the high council and she also sits alone with 4 kids.
2. Her daughter Sarah regularly babysits my kids and they love Sarah.

As soon as we sat down, all my kids abandoned me and promptly meshed in with Kim’s kids. Max even staked out a claim right next to Kim and I was left with a good 3 feet on either side of me. I was feeling badly for Kim and while I was sitting there, trying to figure out a way to discreetly get the attention of my children and have them come back and sit with me- Kim did it. She pulled out the bag of Thomas the Train cars and my kids quietly went bananas over their good fortune. And I thought, “Oh, dear.” Letting my kids play with the Thomas the Train cars basically meant that Kim had done the same thing as feed stray cats. They ignored me for the rest of sacrament meeting.

I had two ingenious thoughts this weekend.

1. On Saturday, with all the hub-bub and drama about cleaning rooms, I got tired of each kid coming and telling me who in the group was not working. While the tattling child, of course, was slaving away. So here’s what I came up with. I told the kids that if they worked, they’d get a reward and if they didn’t they’d get a consequence. But this is the kicker: The other siblings are the ones who decide if you’ve worked or not. I liken it to the college group project where you get a grade from the teachers, but a high percentage of your grade comes from the grade your peers give you.
2. My kids are currently obsessed with Silly Bandz. They keep coming home from school with ones they’ve been gifted by friends and they’ve been begging for some to take to school to trade. Last night I picked up a 24 pack and decided that they could share between themselves. I gave each of them 4 to wear to church today (church is a hot trading place). Little Ernie wanted to know if they were good at church, could they get more when they got home. I said nope, but that each time they were bad, they’d have to give one back to me. I only had to wear one silly band at church today and all in all they behaved very well. :)

The weather is perfect today and Ernie will be home soon. Church was great. I think I’m going to take a nap.