Sunrise service and meltdowns
So there’s a good side and a bad side about taking the kids to church on Easter Sunday before the sun is even up. The best part about about attending church at the crack of dawn is that it’s too early for the kids to act up. They weren’t quite awake yet and just kinda sat in the pew in a daze, looking around at all the people and taking everything in. I didn’t even have to whip out the coloring books or markers, and most of my emergency snacks stayed packed in the diaper bag.
(On a side note, usually I have to pack the bag full to the brim full for church so that I’m ready for anything — extra clothes “just in case”; magna doodles; Crayola Color Wonder markers and paper, which is great because the kids can doodle anywhere but the marker will ONLY show up on the paper; water bottles/sippy cups; snacks; diapers; etc., etc. Whatever works to keep the kids happy and quiet so that they don’t bother other people and refrain from becoming interested in drawing on/pulling pages out of the hymn books.)
Now, onto the downside of attending early church: Since the kids had to get up around 5, this meant that their whole schedules were thrown completely off. And by 10-10:30 a.m. Caitlyn had the worst temper tantrum meltdown I have ever seen. She was flailing her arms about, jumping up and down, and her voice reached octaves that would shatter glass. That definitely signaled it was nap time!! Of course, after she snoozed for three hours she was happy as a clam for the rest of the day, but boy it sure was touchy there for a while!