Enjoying this time in our lives…

So, sometimes I find myself just caught up in the mundane everyday life, and get really bored but then stress over my kids and what I could do better and why do my kids do that or this and how can I help them and lots and lots of other thoughts. I think that sometimes I am just too serious! I was in the shower the other day and seriously laughed out loud thinking of all the moms of their 3-5 year old children who are just fed up with certain behaviors and how it consumes our lives sometimes! The reason I laughed is because they are so little and so innocent and sweet if we really stopped and thought about it more, and here I am letting it get me upset sometimes. Sure, they are hard to live with sometimes, but I just remember so many people saying how fast this time will go and to enjoy it, so I really do try and remember that. I do love staying home with my kids–it is a blessing that I’m sure I take for granted sometimes. Elder Ballard’s talk was amazing in General Conference, and it just reminds me of how precious this time is in my life. To help me get some ideas on not feeling dis-content with my life, I started flipping through “The LDS Mother’s Almanac” today while BOTH my kids napped (that hasn’t happened in a LONG time!). It is a pretty good book that has a ton of ideas on raising a family. Anyways, something in there just lifts my spirits every time I read it. It’s called On Being Three (it’s kind of long, but if you have any children aged 2-5, I think you’ll appreciate this!!!):
“Being 3 means buckles that refuse to unhook when you’re desperate for the bathroom, towering people who continually rub the top of your head, and 5 annoying words that are repeated every five minutes: “You’ll just have to wait.”
It means that every time you really start having a great time, someone walks in and lectures, “Look at this mess! What in the world are you doing? I just washed those clothes, young man!”
It means that every time you proudly dress yourself and walk out into the kitchen for your grand, morning debut, the whole family snickers. Mom looks at your feet and says, “Your shoes are on the wrong feet, dear.” You look down and study your feet and proclaim, “But, Mom, these are the only feet I’ve got.”
Being 3 means that when you go to church, your parents sit you on a hard bench that is so wide your legs stick straight out from your hips. You can’t see a thing except the bench in front of you. You hear voices up front but haven’t the foggiest idea what’s being said. Every time you pop up to see what’s going on, your parents shove you back down. Every time you make weird noises your parents scowl at you and blow air through their teeth like a snake saying, “Shhhhhhhhhh!”
When you’re three, eating can be a real pain. Your wrist tends to lock, your spoon tends to tip in the wrong direction just when you get it to your mouth, and your glass of milk is forever getting in the way of your swinging elbow.
No one takes you seriously when you’re three.
When you say, “No, I won’t eat it–I hate that,” your parents say, “Fine with me, young lady. But just remember–no beets, no apple pie.” When you say, “No, I don’t want to go to bed,” they throw you onto the pillows and promise that if you come out again, you’ll be one sorry turkey or that they’ll paddle your canoe down the Suwanee River.
When you say, “I don’t want to take a bath,” they pick you up and stick your soapy head under the running faucet. When you say, “I don’t have to go to the bathroom. I already went last week,” they push you into the bathroom and hold the door shut until you try one more time. It’s humiliating.
You can’t see what’s going on when you’re three. But every time you crawl up onto the kitchen counter, your mother yells, “Now, you get down from there before you fall and break your neck!”
Finding play partners is tough, because your mom won’t let you leave the yard, cross the street, or talk to strangers. Sometimes even family members are hard to enlist for buddies because everybody is always too busy working.
Being three is no piece of cake. It takes bravery, skill, and cunning to master the ropes of semi-fearless three-hood.”

So, I’m going to try and be more fun to be around–I’m going to try and be more forgiving (and forgetting those things that are so upsetting sometimes!) of my children, since they are so forgiving of me and my faults. I want to try harder to see the world through their eyes, and I’m going to sit and play with them and try my best to savor every minute of it!