Now that I have full enrollment (which truly is blessing to our family and I am SOOO grateful), I have at least 3-5 kids from 7:15-5:30. Then I have basically 3 to 3.5 hours to get dinner made, get to the gym, run any errands I need to run, do laundry/dishes/end of day clean up, bathe kids, bedtime routine. So many important things get left out. I was reading a friend's blog about a conversation she had with her 5 year old, and it was so touching how she turned a question into a teaching moment about the Lord, and how she sees her children's lives unfolding in service to Him.
It made me a little depressed with my priorities. Is is absolutely necessary that I do all those things? Can I spare a few minutes to sit down with my children and teach them about the gospel? I will make time! (I have been trying to figure out how to do FHE with our crazy schedule and sometimes alone with young kids?!) So tonight, I put Sam to bed (he has been sick with a yucky cold and running a fever today) and before I put Jackson to bed, I picked a special book that my mom got Jackson for Christmas.
It is this adorable book that tells several stories from Nephi with photography of babies dressed up like the people in the book of Nephi. Anyway, Jackson sat in my lap while we read it and periodically I would sing the refrain to the "I Will Go, I Will Do" Nephi Primary Song. That helped to keep his attention. He loved the pictures, he kept saying,"The babies are sad," which was the perfect opportunity for me to say, "Yes they are sad. That is Laman and Lemuel. They are sad because they weren't making good choices. They didn't want to do what Heavenly Father asked them to do." Then at the end I taught him the Book of Mormon Stories Primary song. We always say a prayer together before he goes to bed, so tonight I suggested that he say thank you for Nephi and help us to be like him and make good choices and do what the Lord wants us to do. Well, it is not much, but what else do you do with a 2.5 year old? That was about max for his attention span and understanding.
On another note, this weekend we got some much needed family time! We finally got the Christmas lights down on the outside of the house, Ben hung some curtains I have been wanting to hang, and we all went out visiting pet stores just casually looking at puppies. We had been talking about getting a new dog, since Lady is about 13 years old now, and she is starting to be a little deaf and doesn't always notice when things should alert her. So...we ended up falling in love with a foster care boxer-terrier mix puppy at PetSmart. We named her Roxy. Since she isn't a full blood boxer (but looks just like one), she isn't supposed to get much above my knee height. To me, that is perfect because I wanted a small dog, but I also wanted a dog to make me feel safe when Ben works nights.
Both the boys were absolutely smitten and Ben loved her, too. I had to be the voice of reason, but even I couldn't resist those big brown eyes! So far she is potty training really well and responds to the command no. She is quiet, but playful. The perfect puppy! I'm sure you will agree after her big brown eyes have hypnotized you, too.
2 comments:
Don't be so hard on yourself! You are an amazing mother! For the age that your children are at... the things you and Ben have going on in your lives right now.... and all other things that occupy your attention, you spend plenty of quality time with your children. They know that you love them; I can tell that they are both smart and happy little boys by all the posts that you write about them, and they have the opportunity to learn SO MUCH on a daily basis because of your job! I am home with Braeden everyday... just him and me... and I STILL question if I have enough quality time with him, or if maybe I should spend another 5 minutes here or there. The truth is that at their age... they really don't care :) haha, as long as they know that you love them and will always be there to take care of them they get exactly what they need! I feel the same way about teaching Braeden about Jesus, and you just have to remember that your friend was talking to her 5 year old! There is only so much that our boys can understand at 2-3 years old. I started to make sure that I just mention Jesus's name during sacrament so that B will remember who we're talking about each Sunday - but beyond that, it's just too far out of his learning capacity. Remember that you have 16 more years to teach them EVERYTHING, and even then they won't learn it all! I'm learning more about the Gospel NOW in my life, then I ever did sitting in one of my Dad's classes (don't tell him that :))
Don't worry :) Just tell them you love them and sleep stress/worry free :)
PS - LOVE the new dog! We want one SOOOO bad!! I can't wait to move again so we can get one.... hahaha, that shows you how badly I want one :) I luv ya girlie!!
She is so cute!! I'm sure if my kids saw her they would want to come over and play with her. Maybe someday.
I just want you to know that I look up to and all that you teach Jackson. He knows and learns so much during the day. Don't worry. He's smart, he's learning and you are doing a great job!! The little moments count and I thought your idea to read him that book was so cute. He'll remember it!!
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