I was sitting in sacrament meeting this morning in our usual second-row-on-the-right-side seat in the chapel. There was a wonderful Samoan family sitting on the front row. About halfway through the meeting their children were getting a little restless(well, maybe more than a little), so the father lined up three darling little Samoan boys on the floor at the base of the podium with their arms all folded. I watched him as he patiently encouraged them to stay in one place and sit reverently for the rest of the meeting.
This whole parenting thing seems to be a theme among people I know right now. Just a little bit ago my sister-in-law posted on facebook, "Why does raising children have to be so incredibly hard?"
I'm not usually one to think about how hard something is when I'm in the middle of it, but raising children really is hard when I stop to think about it. I've found some strength in a couple of articles recently. You can read them here and here. As I contemplate the issues of parenting that I have dealt with over the last 21 years and will continue to deal with indefinitely, I think my friend Rosie expressed how these things seem to work. "This too shall pass". Rosie said her eighteen-year-old son reminds her of this all the time(even as he is being one of the challenges for her.)
Tonight as we were washing dishes Juice asked me if when she was younger we had to re-wash the dishes as much as we do now. I don't think we did because we didn't have so many kids to try to help and watch over at the same time like we do now. Each stage of life and parenting has definitely had its challenges and as each one passes something new comes up, but with the challenges come those wonderful time-stopping moments to treasure.
Like, playing mother-may-I during family night and having everyone ask, "Mother, may I have a hug?", just so they could win of course, but then everyone wanted a hug. I like that game!
Like when a five- or six-year-old Superstar said to me, "Mom, you're a spring chicken! That means you're young and beautiful, or at least you SEEM like you're young and beautiful!"
Like a wonderful letter from Sonny Pie for Christmas. I think he thought it was not a great gift, but he had procrastinated and had to settle for that, but to me it is precious.
Like Superstar giving me a meaningful thumbs-up after I played a piano solo in sacrament meeting.
Like Juice realizing that we are here to help her and she doesn't have to do EVERYTHING for herself.
Like Cutie telling me tonight that he wants to go to Europe on his mission, like England or Spain, "or I want to go to Hannukah too!"
All of these things come for a brief moment and then they are gone and time starts back up to normal and we plug along through the hard times. I hold on to those moments. They make it all worth it!
