General Conference: Gettin' the Most Outta' It

Brief Introduction:
Howdy, I’m Angela. And, unlike Paula, I married a dry Thomson, (as my husband teases we don’t have pee in our surname). And yes, my husband’s third grade humor is what made me swoon. I have one son and one on the way due early January.
That’s about as brief as I can make this thing. For more about me check out my blog. That’s what it’s there for, right?


For me, it's all about prep. If I want me, my spouse and my toddler to get the most out of Conference, we need to take time to prepare.

Before Conference…

• Our family has a semiannual Family Home Evening: Conference Edition as I like to call it. We teach what we can from this lesson before Caleb’s attention span calls it quits, then make a list of family concerns or questions that we will pray about up until Conference.
• I find that General Conference weekend goes a lot smoother when I have a planned menu in my artillery. Especially if the snacks and menu items can be prepared ahead of time or with little fuss. I live on the east coast so our morning sessions don’t start until noon, so lunch ends up being our snack along with grapes and pretzels. And the afternoon Saturday session ends at 6:00, so having something in the crock pot acquits me cooking during the session and also of worrying what I'm going to feed hubby before Priesthood at 8:00.
  

The Day of Conference…

• Set out quiet entertaining toys. For my son that’s blocks, playdough, puzzles, books, and more blocks. Put away noisy toys. Goodbye play piano and tool set.
• Potty break before a session starts and during songs. (We are potty-training right now)
• Whenever President Monson speaks I pause (oh the marvels of modern technology) and ask Caleb to sit on the couch or in our laps and explain to him that our prophet is going to speak to us, we tell Caleb his name, and as he addresses the congregation explain to Caleb in my own words what President Monson is saying.
• Caleb loves MoTab. We make it game to stand up when the choir rises and to lead along with Mack Wilberg.
• If you only have one or two small children and a cooperative spouse assign session shifts. He can tend to your children’s needs during the morning session while you take junior for the afternoon.
• In-between sessions GET OUT OF THE HOUSE. Caleb is more willing to play quietly after playing outside or going on a walk.