{Don't mind all the complaining... It gets happy by the end.)
Being a mom is hard.
I think that every single day.
It doesn't help that my kids make me feel like a failure.
Like when they are squirming all around on the bench at church and can't use quiet voices.
Or when they throw tantrums in public.
When they won't eat one single healthy thing all day.
Or when all they want to do is watch movies.
Or when I get one mess finally clean and 5 more were made during that time.
Or when they rebel against our greatest efforts to teach them the gospel.
That last one really gets me.
Everyday, consistently, we have family scriptures and prayers.
But imagine:
We pull out the Book of Mormon...
Darcy is usually running around like a crazy person and flips out with that ever so popular
'back-arch' thingy just to get away. She's happy as can be when I let her go. AND CRAZY.
Brinkley is crawling under the bed to get away from us so she doesn't have to read her ONE verse. Then we finally coax her out (without getting angry because that completely defeats the purpose of what we're trying to do right?) and she says her scripture. Then comes prayers. That's when her body goes completely limp except her hands which can't be pried off her face.
"I don't want to say prayers" is so common at bedtime I don't even hear it anymore.
And it is never her turn.
When we finally convince her it is her turn - it takes 10 more minutes just to get her to copy what we say.
Darcy is still running around.
Whew! Get those kids in bed. I'm done.
FOREVER.
I think to myself,
"will this ever pay off? why do we even bother? will this consistency stuff ever work?"
And then one day... it does.
{enter the phrase 'tender mercy' here.}
Don't get me wrong - still not perfect. Darcy is still permanently on pretend caffeine.
BUT Brinkley did just start saying her prayers
ALL BY HERSELF!
(yes, she's almost 4, I know. she can be so stubborn!)
And it is so stinking cute! And she gets excited to do it! And it fills our hearts with joy.
Josh and I just peek at each other and smile through the whole prayer.
"Heavenly Father.
Thankful for my friends.
Isaac, Paisley, Andrew, Lexi, Claire, Baby James, Asher.
I love 'em soo much.
Thankful for my family.
Daddy, mommy, my sister, and me.
I love 'em soo much.
Bless my family.
Daddy, mommy, my sister, and me.
Bless Aunt Sandi, Jason and Jeromy.
Jesus Christ Amen."
I love my kids soo much too.
Even though it's soo hard.
Being a mom is hard.
I think that every single day.
It doesn't help that my kids make me feel like a failure.
Like when they are squirming all around on the bench at church and can't use quiet voices.
Or when they throw tantrums in public.
When they won't eat one single healthy thing all day.
Or when all they want to do is watch movies.
Or when I get one mess finally clean and 5 more were made during that time.
Or when they rebel against our greatest efforts to teach them the gospel.
That last one really gets me.
Everyday, consistently, we have family scriptures and prayers.
But imagine:
We pull out the Book of Mormon...
Darcy is usually running around like a crazy person and flips out with that ever so popular
'back-arch' thingy just to get away. She's happy as can be when I let her go. AND CRAZY.
Brinkley is crawling under the bed to get away from us so she doesn't have to read her ONE verse. Then we finally coax her out (without getting angry because that completely defeats the purpose of what we're trying to do right?) and she says her scripture. Then comes prayers. That's when her body goes completely limp except her hands which can't be pried off her face.
"I don't want to say prayers" is so common at bedtime I don't even hear it anymore.
And it is never her turn.
When we finally convince her it is her turn - it takes 10 more minutes just to get her to copy what we say.
Darcy is still running around.
Whew! Get those kids in bed. I'm done.
FOREVER.
I think to myself,
"will this ever pay off? why do we even bother? will this consistency stuff ever work?"
And then one day... it does.
{enter the phrase 'tender mercy' here.}
Don't get me wrong - still not perfect. Darcy is still permanently on pretend caffeine.
BUT Brinkley did just start saying her prayers
ALL BY HERSELF!
(yes, she's almost 4, I know. she can be so stubborn!)
And it is so stinking cute! And she gets excited to do it! And it fills our hearts with joy.
Josh and I just peek at each other and smile through the whole prayer.
"Heavenly Father.
Thankful for my friends.
Isaac, Paisley, Andrew, Lexi, Claire, Baby James, Asher.
I love 'em soo much.
Thankful for my family.
Daddy, mommy, my sister, and me.
I love 'em soo much.
Bless my family.
Daddy, mommy, my sister, and me.
Bless Aunt Sandi, Jason and Jeromy.
Jesus Christ Amen."
I love my kids soo much too.
Even though it's soo hard.
2 comments:
Oh I totally hear you on this post. It is tough, and being away from family makes it seem even harder. But you are doing an amazing job... you can see it in their happy little faces. Keep up the great {and exhausting} work!
Oh, so precious!
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