Consider choosing what you want to do in Primary on the Sunday BEFORE you present it. This gives you time during the week to think about it and refine it and practice it.
When I was a Primary President, I had a thought about what I should do for a specific sharing time. (Yes, this was a while ago!) I thought about it all week long, thinking about how I would do it, what would happen if I changed this or that, and I feel like I received a bunch of inspiration on this particular sharing time.
I had the thought that I wanted to share how the Holy Ghost speaks in a quiet voice and he will lead us to Christ. I needed help in figuring out who should be the Holy Ghost. After a couple of days, I knew that it needed to be my husband because he was the primary music leader before and they knew him. I told him that he couldn’t touch them to turn their shoulders or anything. It was just by voice. And don’t start until I give you the nod.
So that day came. I had a broomstick with a picture of Christ at the end, like the iron rod. I had my husband standing in the corner waiting. I told the children that one in each class was to be the good guy, and the rest were to try to lead the blindfolded child astray. But they had to stay in their seats.
We got the girl blindfolded, brought her in, and even the teachers got involved. They were so good at being bad that the girl ended up in the hallway again! We brought her back in, and they were all loud – definitely not reverent! But I felt this was what needed to happen! She was very confused, the other children were giving her conflicting directions, some leading her to Christ, and some trying to lead her away.
I let this go on for a while, until she was a little frustrated, and then I gave my husband a nod. He came close to her and, calling her by name, said, Listen to my voice. The whole Primary went silent. I had to motion to them to keep going, and this girl’s best friend called, Don’t listen to him! And they were all calling again. But she turned up her head and listened to my husband, who directed her to the iron rod and to Christ, even through the hubbub. He spoke quietly, but she knew his voice.
When we talked about it afterward, I asked why this girl listened to my husband. Her best friend said, “Well, we trust him, duh!”
It was a tender moment for my husband, knowing that his little primary children trusted him, but also that he could not break that trust. But it was also a lesson to the children to listen to that still, small voice even through the ruckus in the world.
I tell you this story to help you understand two things. First, the children trust you. You will always be important in their lives. Second, mull things over for the week if you can. This sharing time morphed over the week as I thought about it and prayed about it. Consider deciding what to do the Sunday BEFORE you teach it. Take a few minutes that evening and decide what you will do for each of the three songs you will teach or review, and hopefully that will be taken from a more comprehensive schedule that you have set up. It might take a few minutes, but it probably won’t take any more time than worrying about it on Saturday night! And then you have the week to refine it and practice the songs as you go about your work. And it’s much less stressful!
I know life gets in the way sometimes! But if you start early, if the week turns out to be a tough one, at least you have that much prepared and it will feel less of a burden come Saturday night! It will also allow you to be more open to inspiration through the week so that when you do present it, you have more of an idea of just how you want to do it!