I love being a mom

I love being a mommy, mom, or mama. My favorite time of year is summer because the girls are home from school. I love weekends for the same reason and any other day when they are home. I love having my kids home! I love the funny things they say and the games they create. (Greek goddess and fairy land are current favorites here.) I even love seeing little shoes and stuffed critters on the floor after I put them to bed. I love creating field trips and activities to do with them. I enjoy coming up with new ways to do the same old clean-up chores and I love baking with and for them. Frequently throughout the day while I'm going about doing chores or errands I'll be thinking of what I should teach for morning devotional or how I should be doing something better. (Like I need to be more physically affectionate to Sarah.) I really enjoy my baby. She's so fun and I love playing with her.

This said, I'm not perfect. I'm not always happy with the noise or mess having children brings. There are some evenings when I'm watching the clock counting down the time to bedtime, but that is the exception not the rule. As I've listened and read posts on facebook and talked to my friends I've been surprised to discover how much moms complain about being moms. So here is my soapbox. I figure it's my blog and I can vent here if I want to. Perhaps the difference is simply attitude, the decision to enjoy children rather than put up with them. Perhaps it's genetic; I come from parents who adore children and always have. I can't help it, maybe. Perhaps it's a difference in priority. Every day I consciously think about what I'm doing or not doing to reach my end goal of eternal life. I believe the Plan of Happiness should have plenty of fun in it. It should not be all drudgery and chores. Perhaps it's because I don't get all caught up in TV shows and insist that I put myself to bed on time so that I have energy during the day to be happy. Because I am not the same person when I am tired. Whatever the reason, I feel sad for people who don't enjoy Motherhood. Children are only children for such a short time. It's a shame to spend that time wishing for them to be in bed, at school, or otherwise out of your space. There, I feel better.

Alyssa is so funny

Last night while Alyssa was getting ready for her shower she said, " Mom, I have to tell the truth." Right away I wondered what terrible thing she had done and figured it had to do with not making it to the bathroom in time but no...

"When I get my socks I climb on Emily's bed and then I jump off. But I don't get hurt. It feels like when I jump from the second step on my feet and they don't mind."

I can live with that.

Totally non-related: Amelia has mastered going down stairs now for the last couple of weeks. But this past week she discovered the playroom. It's a whole new world, the last of the unexplored house, a place she must be. So when the girls are playing a game and shut the door to keep her out she sits there and cries and I feel sad and open the door for her. Fortunately the girls have come up with ways to distract her with stuff while they play Greek Goddess or whatever Sarah has dreamed up for the day.

Also un-related: Yesterday afternoon we got a sitter and went to a movie and dinner! We haven't done that in years. Mostly because I don't really like movies. But yesterday we went to see the last Harry Potter movie and I mostly really liked it. It was nice to go to a movie with Alan and Spanish Fork theater only charges $3 per ticket for any time so that was nice too. We even got popcorn!

I agree

Today Alyssa was making up a song about things she loves. At the end she sang "But best of all I like to sleep!" Then she asked me if I knew why she loved to sleep the best. Her response? "Because when you sleep you don't have to do chores." True!