Sunday Morning Routines To Stop The Before Church Madness

Are Sunday mornings the craziest, unruliest, most unfortunate times in your household? You’re not alone. Here are some tried and true tips to help stop the before church madness:

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I’ll never forget our most train wreck of a Sunday morning.

I was stressed out getting all 5 kids ready and myself. Makeup, hair, etc.

And then I see my husband still not ready, after I’d gotten 5 kids and myself ready, and rage came up. I didn’t want to be late.

I grabbed the keys, literally threw them, and said DRIVE YOURSELF TO CHURCH!

It went further downhill after that. But 15 minutes later we laughed and decided, well, that’s not a good way to spend our Sunday mornings.

So let’s dive into how to create a nice Sunday morning routine without the drama.

Plan Ahead for Sunday Mornings

The chaos happens when… it’s Sunday morning and you realize that nobody has clean dress clothes and there’s no food in the house.

Plan Outfits the Night Before

This is especially helpful if you have multiple kids and the mornings can get super chaotic.

Or, if you like to color coordinate the family.

• Lay dress clothes over bedroom chair or in a place easily accessible.
• Check to make sure clean socks & undies are there.
• Set dress shoes out and ready to put on.

Shower the night before in effort to eliminate the extra time it takes for hair drying, etc.

Read: Your Family’s Schedule: 6 Crucial Considerations

Pre-plan and simplify breakfast

Unless it’s your family’s tradition, a full course breakfast spread is probably not the best bet (if you want to get to church on time.)

And, nobody likes coming home from church with a sink full of dishes.

And lunch to make.

• Keep Sunday morning breakfast simple, yet nutritious.
• Fruit, granola bars, cereal, oatmeal.
• Teach that part of the routine is to clean up their breakfast materials before leaving.

I allow mine to eat their breakfast on their own (at the counter) or together with a sibling.

Depending on your kid’s age, you may want to feed them before getting them dressed so the meal doesn’t ruin their clothes. This will also stop them from fussing from hunger.

Avoiding Hyper Stimulation or Screens

One of the most difficult things on planet earth to do is to convince a child to put down a device to do something boring like getting dressed.

This is magnified on Sunday mornings. So, we avoid screens and “clear our heart & mind” for worship.

It’s a whole lot easier to get dressed when you’re intentional about doing it.

And, kids tend to be grumpy when they get screens and then have to put the down to get ready for church.

Hyper Stimulation on Sunday Mornings

One sure trick to smoother Sunday mornings is to avoid hyper stimulations.

I’m talking about the nerf gun wars, building forts in the living room, playing tag, running around outside, etc.

Not only will it almost always bring on arguing, but sweaty kids with busted lips isn’t what we’re going for today.

Start Earlier- Way Earlier than What You Think

If it’s going to break, burn, or get caught in the fan it’s going to happen first thing on Sunday mornings. Get ahead of it by rising earlier and planning to be one step up.

Plus, if all of your kids want to snuggle with you before getting out of bed… you want to have the time to do that.

Plan to Start Earlier

This is a tip for those of us who always end up with one-more-thing-to-do before going out the door.

It’s a mom thing… and it’s real.

So, to combat this conundrum, simply start earlier.

• If you think you need to get up by 7:30, set your alarm for 7:00.
• If you aim to leave the house by 9:30, plan on walking out the door at 9:00.

You may be early, but you won’t be later.

Actually, you’ll probably be right on time.

Read: Sunday Evening Routines That Make The Week Less Stressful

“If You Have Have Nothing Nice to Say”

We all know what comes next.. “then don’t say anything at all.”

But for some reason, Sunday morning is the time for “all the negativity to come out.” Some people think it’s this world and our enemy trying to stop us from going to church.

My husband has memories of his mother saying this on Sunday mornings in their house. So, it’s not just a “this generational” thing.

And, so especially on Sundays, watch that you say.

• Teach kids to use positive affirmations and kind words to each other.
• Be mindful of the things you speak over yourself while getting dressed, etc.
• Have your kids do some calm down time if they aren’t saying kind things. Don’t take it…

It may take some time, but the overall moral of the Sunday mornings will increase with positivity.

Or, by just saying nothing at all.