Have you ever had a “Full Moon Sunday”? That’s what I call those Sunday morning services where everything should have gone perfectly… but for some random reason the kids are totally wound up. You feel like every bit of your preparation was pointless. And for me it always seems to be a service topic that I really thought would otherwise have made a huge impact. We’re not talking about a few kids causing problems. It’s more of a general restless din of noise and movement. It’s most frustrating because since it’s everyone and it’s nothing you can exactly put your finger on it’s all but impossible to change the behavior. Short of putting the entire group in time-out or marching them all in to their parents you just have to put your head down and just charge through. It’ll be 1pm soon.
I call these happenings “Full-Moon Sundays” because I’ve had friends who are nurses tell me that every full moon all kinds of crazy things start going down at the hospitals. Tons of extra babies are born and lots or weird injuries come walking into the emergency rooms. There seems to be no other explanation other than the phase of the moon. So when I have a weird Sunday where everything goes right but the kids, I have to blame something… so I blame the moon. I know the moon has no inherent power. I know it’s not really its fault. But it gets the blame anyway. As Milli Vanilli once said, “You gotta blame it on something”.
I don’t know that I have any advice or tips for this particular situation. I mostly just want to know if anyone else experiences this and if you do that you’re not alone. Here are a few thoughts on Full-Moon Sundays.
1. Don’t take it personally. If you were properly prepared you can’t blame yourself.
2. Don’t change anything. You’ll be tempted to rewrite policy or at very least change your program. Don’t ever make a permanent decision to fix a temporary problem.
3. Put your head down and charge through. Honestly, I believe the more potential your service has to change a life, the more your enemy will attempt to cause problems in your service. So don’t quit! Keep speaking, keep following that schedule! Sure, be open to what God may want to do, but don’t make a change based on how you feel in the moment.
Am I the only one who has “Full-Moon Sundays”? Maybe so. Either way I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. Both your experiences and tips for dealing and getting through are welcomed.
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Yep…. had a similar kind of Sunday yesterday in fact. Not really a “full moon Sunday” atmosphere though. I think a lot of ours was b/c it has rained.. a LOT… this week. Kids have been cooped up inside, games outside have been cancelled & they are just tired & bored of being inside. Plus it’s the end of the school year… they are just tired of “structure” for lack of a better word.
Had a lot of “pre-show” running & “service talking” but I couldn’t find exactly who as it was wide spread “mummers”.
Our topic yesterday was on The Tongue… and how it can destruction. Any wonder the enemy was fighting against it? LOL
Ironically, when I think it’s a “bad Sunday”, I always have at least one adult say that they thought the message was good. I even had a parent contact me via FB to tell me that their child got so much out of a recent Sunday I thought was total chaos!
My advice? Use those Sunday to gain Spiritual strength & God’s “pat on the back to you” b/c the enemy wouldn’t fight so hard if you weren’t doing something right!
Yes I have had those Sundays also. But I have also had the opposite which is a Gibbous Moon. These only seem to happen once in a while. I guess it could have been all of the kids were tired, or it was gloomy outside but they all behaved and no balloons got popped. I don’t know why but “The moon gets the blame or credit for it.”
I really like the good attitude and suggestions here.
I’ve definitely had those days. Sometimes there is just a collective craziness – wiggly, mischievous, talkative, restless kids! It could be holiday coming on, some blame an atmospheric change, and yes, being located near Portland, Oregon, we do blame it on the rain sometimes (and rightly so!)
I like what you said about hanging in there. Sometimes, you have prayed and you still struggle. I had a week like that in our children’s worship. I set everything up half an hour early, but it was a struggle: the audio visual equipment wasn’t cooperating (different version of Power Point on the laptop that was set up versus my home one; had to stop and convert my files). My usual helper was out of town. The video clip wouldn’t play. During class, two siblings were in a wrestling match. An older boy was goofing off.
We sang some high energy songs, with kids are song leaders. I had my helper pass out Respect stickers to each child who could say a way they had acted out respect in the last week. Then I enlisted the help of some of the older kids from my small group time for short drama roles. The kids got so involved in “helping” and in the short drama roles, that we never got to the rest of our activities. (Sigh…) The worship service ended early… However, long after class, at our evening family small group time, though, the kids still remembered the lesson and commented on it and the slide pictures – so I guess they got it!
So, be prepared, but sometimes it is just “one of those days”. To get through them, these are some things I’ve learned… but even then, having done all and it is still crazy, keep your cool and think: “I will survive!” – and you will!
So, here is what I do to help counter some of the craziness:
1) Always prepare at least one more activity than you think you will need.
2) Help get the wiggles out with games (Bible related)
3) Are the kids talkative? Give each child a chance, in one or two sentences to a) tell something good that happened that day; b) tell something good they did to help someone that day; c) talk about their holiday plans (or something on your lesson theme… like a way they showed patience). Older elementary kids like a chance to each share something on a certain topic – this is great for prayer requests.
4) Are the kids wiggly? How about some songs with motions and moves? (you can use a video or CD if music isn’t your best thing).
5) Extra time? Short attention span? I usually have an active “hands on” review Bible game available. A list of review questions. Something that involves teams and movement, a treat or prize box (not just candy). It can be Bible baseball (answer a question, move up one base; use chairs, etc as bases). It can be points on the board.
6) Don’t pretend it is all going well. Be honest with the kids and say, “I can see everyone is having a little trouble listening today. Let me take a minute to listen to you first. What is one thing you want to share first about your plans for _______ (this weekend/tomorrow that happened in school today, etc). After you share, we’re going to pray. Then it is my turn to talk and your turn to listen while we hear what God has to say.”
7. Nip trouble in the bud early. Have eyes in the back of your head. Move kids around if they are bouncing off each other. Sitting by your bosom buddy/best friend is a privilege for good behavior.
8. Give the kids active participation. “I’m looking for two people who are good listeners. Who is sitting still and raising their hand?” “I need someone who can keep score for our game.” “I need someone to pass out the ____.” Let them help you tell the story. They can follow your cues for sound effects, or story re-enactments.
Hmm… this got pretty wordy. (Sorry) If the kids know you care, if you showed God’s love, if they learned about Jesus, and if you survived
, it was a good day.
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