I feel like a terrible mother. We missed our homeschool group’s All Saints party because we were only ready for 9:00 a.m. Mass two minutes before Mass was supposed to start. On the 31st, Kieran was up until past midnight for the second time this week and my older daughters stayed up with me until he went to bed. Yesterday morning, I thought that everyone was getting ready for Mass, but one of my daughters was still in bed. I tried to find a 9:30 Mass that was close enough for us to get to on time, but was unsuccessful.

I spoke with my children and told them that our only option was to go to Mass at noon (my original intent was to go in the evening, but it wasn’t feasible). Our All Saints Party was scheduled to begin at 11:30. In order to not completely disappoint my children, I called a friend and asked if she and her family could come over and celebrate with us. My eldest daughter invited another family who was at the noon Mass to our house for an All Saints Party. This pleased some of my children.

However, I know that I really disappointed Theresa and Patrick. Theresa was very excited to be St. Brigid and wear a cloak that was similar to the one in Brigid’s Cloak. She was also excited about seeing her friends, Aria, Nadia, and Sophia. Patrick was happy to be St. Dunston and to be going to an All Saints party with his best friend, Liam. I know that my children understand that Mass is the priority, but I wish that I hadn’t disappointed them and that we could have gone to the All Saints party.