Motherhood – Page 47 – Letters from Home

Reminisce part two: Being Present

Flower watercolor by Paige Ross

Resolved: I will include more of our art on this blog.

I went visiting teaching today, which means I sat in the homes of two amazing women from church and checked up on how they are doing, shared a spiritual thought, and sat back and learned from them.

One friend told me about her goal to be more “present” instead of distracted during her activities in her work and with her children and husband. What a great goal! She noted that many of us are addicted to multi-tasking, to the detriment of all we try to do. If we were more “present” in our work and relationships, we would find more success.

I thought about this idea all day long. As a mother, I have to multi-task some things. I can’t tell my children to “take a number” all the time. However, I can eliminate some of the non-essential, addictive things that make me less than “present” like checking e-mails first thing in the morning instead of working on my primary goals for the day, or trying to make lists while I play trains with Mark (of which I am guilty today).

Which reminds me of my Reminisce post from Sunday. Another reason I (and so many others) love the past is because these were simpler times. So here’s a paradox: to rekindle some of the simplicity of the past… (wait for it) we need to be more “present” today. (ba da boom!)

Jam

I made jam today. It tastes so good and it makes my family happy.

Sleep sweet, nor fret

children-ring-around-roses

Today we entertained lots of neighborhood kids at our house. Late in the afternoon, my next door neighbor, Maria brought me some lemonade. We sat in my living room and dressed Barbies with the kids.

The day was full of small blessings like that. It’s remembering these comfortable blessings that makes all the difference when I look back over my day, which was truly a mixture of successes and shortcomings, good and bad news. I’m wrapped in a soft shawl and I feel peaceful.

I have loved this poem for years. I just discovered it is part of the Association of Unity Churches Home Blessing. I couldn’t find the author’s name. It matches my mood tonight.

My heart, The sun hath set.
Night paths With dew are wet.
Sleep comes Without regret;
Stars rise When sun is set.
All’s well. God loves thee yet,
Heart, smile, Sleep sweet, nor fret.

Girls’ Camp Eve

Paige is off to Girls’ Camp this week. I was asked to write the usual “Dear Daughter” letter to Paige to open when she is at camp. Letters from home are always a good idea. Good heavens, I still have every note my mom wrote to me.

I have to admit I don’t want to write the letter. I want to be up at Girl’s Camp. I’d rather be singing songs around the campfire with her and hiking in the pines than sitting here trying to think of the right thing to say. But since I can’t go, I’ll get to work on that letter.

Study this picture for a minute and you will see my firstborn, my companion, my helper, my friend, my hero, my doll to dress and care for, my young woman to be proud of, and the ONLY one with whom I can share Pride and Prejudice movie nights at home. I hear her playing the piano as I write this. She plays better than I do now. She is like her dad in her steady, calm demeanor. She welcomes her brothers into her room all the time and lets them fiddle around with her sparkly, sweet smelling, soft, and cute belongings. To Mark, Paige is a special confidante. I find the two of them often sitting on her bed together talking about topics obviously chosen by Mark. Paige is very patient. Her artwork is stunning and she dances like an angel. She is a faithful at studying her scriptures and writing in her journal. I can honestly say I have never seen her behave disrespectfully to anyone.

Paige came when I was 21 years old when I didn’t know anything. I know even less now, and I think she’s catching on to this truth, but she still gives me hugs every night before bed and thanks me for the meals I prepare.

Along with my assignment to write a letter to Paige, I must also come up with an adjective which describes her to print in a program after camp. Just one adjective? Now, that’s hard. Here are some words that describe Paige: graceful, pure, gentle, unselfish, talented, artistic, patient, generous, loving, steady, sweet, quiet, faithful, obedient, intelligent…

Will a longer list make it any easier to choose just one?

Probably not, but if anyone deserves a long list of positive adjectives, it’s our Paige.

Tough stuff

When my children were babies, I did everything I could to protect them. As they get older, I see that my need to protect must also be balanced with their need for experience. This means I am learning to allow things like bb guns & baseball injuries into the equation. I’m still here with the bandaids and a hug. And I’ve given a lot of these this week.

Daniel had two days of Cub Day Camp and I got to go with the scouts on the first day. We were up on Mt Lemmon and the pines were as rejuvenating as the scouts were exhausting. I loved being up there and watching the boys learn to work with knives and shoot and try their hands at leather craft. Daniel is a good kid. I couldn’t be more proud of him for his conduct at camp. And yes, Daniel, you earned your whittling chip and can own a pocketknife now!

Timothy wasn’t hurt in this t-ball collision, but it looks spectacular, doesn’t it?

See, he’s fine.

And so am I.

Mother’s Day

Tonight:

I will help myself to my Mother’s Day ice cream from the freezer and
Read this poem (by Daniel) again before I go to bed. (Can it get any better than this?)