Sunday Widow

Rob and I have had discussions lately about making his calling work. We are both grateful for his calling, but it can be hard sometimes to manage time correctly and keep everything in balance. It's been a learning experience for our whole family.

And not that we're handling it poorly. I think we've been doing a good job. We've figured out sacrament meeting (thanks to the W's who love our children), and that was a stressor at the start. We've figured out the main time commitments and Tuesdays run pretty smoothly now.

But it seems there are moments, just brief moments, where we fail to communicate, and then it feels stressful. So we've been tackling this. I talked to my Mom about how I was feeling, and asking her for good ideas. She gave some very helpful advice, and also said that Sundays can just be hard. She said, "You really do become a Sunday widow."

I've heard the term "Sunday widow" before. I dislike the term and had decided to never EVER use it to describe myself. I didn't sign up to be a single mom. I would be shouting at people and calling out my needs before I EVER let myself feel like a Sunday widow.

So we had Miciah's cousin, M, over for the weekend. I'd had my discussion with my mother on Wednesday, maybe, and now it's Sunday morning. Rob has been at church for meetings since 8 a.m. We're driving to church. We're early (a fanTAStic suggestion from my mother). I'm telling the kids, "Alright. When we get there, I need the girls to come with me to do the program, and Elijah, you need to find Daddy and help him do whatever he needs you to do."

Miciah says, "Yeah, and then we have to find someone to sit with us, right?" I said, "Sure." M looked at Miciah and said, "Someone to sit with?" Miciah explained to her that on Sundays we always sat with another family because, "On Sundays, our family is like your family."

What is "like your family"? M is one of 4 children, and her mom is a widow.

I sighed when Miciah described our family as a Sunday widow family. And I smiled a soft smile. Even though I was determined to never EVER use that term, my own DAUGHTER called it like it is. :)

And that makes a good story.