My Easter Confession of Procrastination

Easter 2013

Yes. They can stand still for at least one picture. You just got to keep the camera snapping to actually catch the perfect shot.

Me procrastinate? Surely not!

I know y’all find that hard to believe. Yes,I am a preacher’s wife and I procrastinate.

Aren’t my children beautiful all dressed up in their Easter clothes?

Let me tell you what all it took to get that picture.

It all began on my husband’s payday in the month of March.

“Sweetheart, how much money can I spend this month to buy the kids new clothes for Easter?” 

“However much you need. We should have enough.” He replied.

So you see, I did think about buying the kids’ new clothes.

Fast forward to the Saturday before Easter Sunday.

I had been talking all week about needing to pick a day to go shopping with the kids. Saturday morning my husband decided he could take the boys to go clothes shopping. 

That sounded great to me. Divide and conquer!

He take half the children and I take the other half.  So they left in his van to buy clothes. They had been gone several hours, when I decided to call and check on them. My husband’s phone doesn’t always work in the store so I called my son’s phone. 

“Hi, Joshua!”

“Hi!”

“I’m just calling to check on y’all. How are things going?”

“Fine. Dad doesn’t like shopping for clothes.” 

“I understand. Are y’all almost done?’

“Almost.”

My husband called me and informed me that he had been in the store too long. “Let me out of here!”

At some point in talking with him, I realized that I didn’t have to wait for them to get back. The girls and I have our own vehicle!

The boys got back and I took the girls.

I knew that it was going to be hard to find dresses that meet our dress code.

  • Our rule is dresses have to come below the knees.
  • Shirts can’t show the belly when arms are raised. We call that the belly test. Any time a shirt gets too small one of us will comment, “I don’t think that shirt will pass the belly test.” 
  • I require that shirts have sleeves. Not just straps. So if they buy a dress with straps they must have a shirt over or under it.
  • I do allow shorts and pants but the same rule applies. They must come below the knees and not be too tight.

That may sound strict but in this world of vastly decaying morals it is good to hold yourself and your family to a higher level. I set up the rules along time ago when my oldest daughter was very young. It met my husband’s approval and my children understand that these are the rules. 

So Saturday afternoon, the day before Easter I have to find 3 dresses that meet those requirements and still look nice. 

I took the girls to a clothing store in our little town.  After several trips to the dressing room, they found what they wanted. 

The boys were color coordinated with purple and grays. The girls…pink and white.

“Mom, you should find a dress to match us!”

Okay…. I should just end this story right here… You do not want to know my experience with dress shopping, do you?

You do? Okay… Some do some don’t. If you don’t want to know, let’s just suffice it to say that it’s not the same when your in your late 30’s and not as skinny as you used to be.

Now that’s the short story. My feelings won’t be hurt if you can imagine it and want to stop right there.

Still reading?

I made the mistake of agreeing to try on clothes. My daughters had the baby in her stroller and were walking laps inside the store while I tried clothes on.

I don’t think clothing designers had me at all in mind when they made those clothes. The clothes that came close to fitting me showed my knobby knees.  The clothes that were long enough to hide those same knees I couldn’t even get pulled up over my thighs.  

I tried on the same shirt my older daughter is wearing in the picture. It looks very pretty on her. I chose the largest size available in that shirt. Now I know why women wear shirts so tight. They don’t make shirts bigger!

After several failed attempts with different styles, I had to start pep talking myself to calm my emotions.

I told myself that it was okay. Maybe there are so many other women with my dimensions that my sizes were sold out.  If I had gone shopping sooner I would have found something. I’ll start exercising and my reward for all the weight I will lose will be a new dress. 

We stopped at another store for accessories. I like to look at clearance racks. I found a shirt in my normal style on the clearance rack for $2. I didn’t even bother to try it on. And that was my beautiful Easter shirt in our family picture. 

Have you ever waited until the last minute to do something and it still worked out okay? Maybe not as well as you would have liked but you were at least happy with the end result. 

You may have noticed (if you pay attention to those details) that my two younger sons were not wearing dress shoes in the above picture.  They outgrow their shoes so fast that they wind up wearing their tennis shoes to church. Since I procrastinated, I ran out of time to buy them dress shoes.

Okay, maybe procrastinating isn’t such a good thing after all. 

 

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About Anastacia Maness

Anastacia Maness is a preacher's wife, homeschooling mother of 6 blessings, and writer. When she's not busy counting her blessings she's writing about them right here on her blog, encouraging and strengthening families.

12 Replies to “My Easter Confession of Procrastination”

  1. Lotta Wanner

    I love your story! And I love the photo! You did an amazing job accomplishing so much in such short time! And you look great! 🙂

    Reply
  2. Shelley DuPont

    It’s difficult to find modest clothes at any size, anymore. I have a lot of trouble, too. I love skirts, but decent ones are hard to find. I can’t imagine trying to find things for little girls. I’ve almost come to the point of making my own clothes (when I get done ordering my house..hahaha). I like how you’re trained your children with Godly standards, especially in the area of dress. It DOES make a difference in their character.

    Reply
  3. Shannon Cochran

    Anastacia, Howdy! Ha ha, can so relate to shopping with kids and baby.

    Great pic of your family. Nice shirt, Mama.

    But most of all, a huge thank you for setting and keeping clothing and “belly” rules for your beautiful girls. Zero tolerance Stumble-wear Policy–inspiring! Edifying to girls, and protects the so-easily-wandering- eyes of guys.

    Loved reading the comments of you been-there-done-that moms, too. Thanks La, Shelley, Kathleen, and Lotta.

    Love in Christ,

    Shannon Cochran
    http://www.todaysladyvirtue.com

    Reply
  4. Bryan Hutchinson

    WoW Anastacia! lol You know, it’s a funny thing, but for some reason I tend to do my best at the last minute, but by then it is usually to late 🙂 Great photo and thanks for sharing with us.

    Reply
    • Anastacia Maness

      Thanks, Bryan! I’m finally able to just laugh at some of the crazy things I get myself into. 🙂 I usually don’t mean to procrastinate but if I don’t get it done immediately then it may never get done. Thanks for stopping by!

      Reply

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