A Chilly, Child-Swapping Temple Day in Philadelphia

We could see the skyscrapers of Philadelphia when we noticed it: isolated clumps of gray snow on the shoulder of the freeway. Southeast Pennsylvania had enjoyed some snow earlier that week, and while it was warm enough that most of it had melted, it was also cold enough that not all of it had melted.

Traffic wasn't in our favor, so we pulled into the underground parking garage shortly after the 10:00 session began.  After donning coats and informing me he would be back at 1:45 my valiant husband took the five children up the elevator to the "arrival center" building. His mission: to entertain the five children at the nearby Franklin Institute so I could have some time in the temple.
I took the central elevator straight up to the temple entrance to luxuriate in 3 1/2 hours of peaceful pondering and temple work.
At 1:45-ish, I took that same elevator back down to P2. As soon as the doors into the parking garage opened, I heard the familiar, obnoxious sound of one of my children pretending to vomit. Sure enough, my family was making its way across the parking garage to the van just in front of me. My 3-year old was the first to notice me, and happily walked with me over to the van. The children started clambering inside (not that we were going anywhere yet), while my husband tied his tie and pulled on his suit coat that had been hanging in the far back of the van.
Cory gave me a parting kiss, then carried his temple bag to the central elevator, and I turned to face five children who were ready for a late lunch (Dad had fed them popcorn). With coats back on, we decided to try our luck at the 7-11 a block away.

We walked out of the shelter of the "arrival center" and into the chilly wind blowing down the street. Not sufficiently cold, the children prodded and kicked every patch of dirty snow along our path.
At a four-way stop the children clustered back together and a considerate driver waved us across.
I had never before been in a convenience store with an L-shaped layout. We had to squeeze past the line at the checkout to see what our options were. The most promising option was 2 slices of pizza for $2. When the line cleared out, the cashier came over to help us. He pointed out that a full pizza (8 slices) was $5.55, so we ordered that instead. While it was baking, I generously encouraged the children to get a small hot chocolate ($1 each). My high schoolers sensibly started filling their own cocoa cups, while my younger children pleaded for slurpees. I thought it was foolish, but we believe in allowing the children opportunities to make choices and experience consequences, so I just reminded them of how cold it was outside, and allowed them the option of a small slurpee instead.
When we purchased the food and stepped outside, the chilly wind began chasing us down the street. My 3-year old clutched his prized slurpee and shivered. There was no way I was carrying a pizza while helping the children cross all the busy streets it would take to arrive at the lunchroom tucked inside the Franklin Institute. I gave them the option of either eating in the park or in the van. It was unanimous, so we hurried as discreetly to the elevator as a family of seven carrying a pizza and drinks in the temple courtyard possibly can.
After eating, we gathered up the trash in the van to save for the first rest area we would encounter on the drive home. Then we went up to the surface and walked briskly down Vine Street, noticing at least one father in a dress shirt taking his young children into the Free Library of Philadelphia. It's fun recognizing families out in town that you've recently seen at the temple.
The high school boys promised to stay with each other and meet us by the enormous statue of Benjamin Franklin at a given time. The rest of us got downstairs just in time for a planetarium showing. I let my middle schoolers go in together, with instructions to find me in the adjacent train exhibit as soon as it was done. Then little Q and I spent a happy half hour building an enormous train track.

We met up successfully and made it back to the parking garage about 20 minutes before I expected us to, which allowed us to leave almost as soon as Cory (who had remembered to validate our parking ticket) came down. We left the Philadelphia around 4:30 and it was dark before we were in Delaware.  For our first half hour, we discussed our pondering and impressions for the day, and navigated our complicated route out of the city and onto Delaware 1.

I read to Cory most of the way home. We finished Mary Poppins and got a good start on Sun and Moon, Ice and Snow, by Jessica Day George. The kids mostly watched shows we had downloaded to our tablets, but T prepared his lesson for today, and Q napped for over an hour.
We were reminded our family was responsible for the sacrament bread, so when we stopped for gas, we also bought a loaf of bread.
When we pulled into our driveway a little after midnight, the three children in the middle row were all asleep. We nudged the older ones awake and carried the youngest in. By the time we had brought in all the luggage, all of the children were asleep in their beds.
Another successful temple weekend. Lots of driving, not too bad on sleep, and no regrets.

2 Hour Church = 1 Hour Primary

As a member of my ward's Primary presidency, I was eager to see how the new two-hour church schedule would affect Primary.
In a sense, there will be nothing new (during the Sunday block). There will actually be less (for example, no more Sharing Time).
The most dramatic thing I noticed about the new schedule is how it shifted the proportion of time spent in different areas.
To me, the new proportions emphasize three very important things:

1. Taking the sacrament. Even young children who ignore the speakers take notice of the sacrament. The entire sacrament meeting will be half of a child (or adult's) church worship experience.
2. Singing Time. As you can see in the circle chart I made, learning and singing gospel songs is nearly a quarter of a child's church experience each Sunday. (The chart I made includes the 5 minute opening with singing time, but there are several songs sung in sacrament meeting to balance that). For many children, the gospel is best learned through music. Music has a power to touch hearts in a way that lectures cannot. Gospel songs are also more likely to be hummed and remembered into the week. In fact, once a song is thoroughly learned, its power can unexpectedly reenter a person's life years in the future.
3. Class time. A 20 minute class is superior to a 20 minute sharing time in many ways. By being in a small class setting, young children are more likely to feel the love of their teachers, have opportunities to participate, and therefore pay better attention.

What are your thoughts about these changes?