Monthly Archives: June 2010

My children didn’t even miss me.

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I’m told that when Matt drove home and they saw that my car was not in the garage, Grant said, “YES!,” and then he got out of the car and held his hands up in the air and yelled “FREEDOM!”

Um.

Whatever.  He’ll appreciate me when he’s 24 and I don’t tell the girl he’s dating that he used to wipe boogers on the wall.  A lot.

EFY went well.  I think I’m getting more used to the nerves since I didn’t throw up this time and I only took 3 Excedrin Tension Headache capsules in the two days I taught.  And I didn’t even worry about the evaluation forms they were filling out about my classes.  I had some great experiences and can say that I know some of the youth were able to feel the Spirit and learn new things and set new goals.  So I felt good about that.  One thing that I love about EFY is that it renews my faith in the youth.  They are good and they love the gospel.  They want it.  We never give them as much credit as we should.  I have always loved this quote from J. Reuben Clark and I try to let it guide the way I teach:

“The youth of the Church are hungry for things of the Spirit; they are eager to learn the gospel, and they want it straight, undiluted.  … they want to gain testimonies of their truth; they are not now doubters but inquirers, seekers after truth. … You do not have to sneak up behind this spiritually experienced youth and whisper religion in his ears; you can come right out, face to face, and talk with him.”

Anyway, they’re great, and spending time with them made me feel good.  And of course, sharing my testimony a lot always makes me feel good.

Natalie missed me.  She gave me a hug today and said she was glad I’m back.  She told me later she thought I went to jail.

???

Thank goodness my children don’t do evaluation forms.  There’s just not enough Excedrin for that.

The dawn of summer. I think I’m ready now.

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So we went camping in the rain anyway (no plan B, remember?), and it turned out fine. The weather was dry when we left town, and it only ended up raining one afternoon. Luckily I’d packed a lot of “in case it rains” items, so we spent the time reading, playing games, having coloring contests, etc. (Only slightly-snarky side note: Matt spent the time napping.) Otherwise, we hiked, played, toured, and canoed on the river. I will not go into the canoe experience because I have an unnatural fear of rivers and lakes and all of the unseen dangers and probably creepy things lurking in the water that is not transparent. and nightmares of my children being swept away in the current while I pathetically paddle in the wrong direction trying to save them. My stint in the canoe was a tiny bit shorter than the rest of the family. I tried, but I probably should have been medicated first.

I’m headed out today to teach at EFY, which always makes me excited and a little bit on-the-edge-of-throwing-up nervous. (Last year, I actually did.)   I’ve taught two of my talks/classes before, and two are new material, and I’m just hoping no one throws tomatoes at me.

I am now getting a grip on my summer master plan and, when I get back from EFY, I’ll share more of the details with you. (Since I know you’re just sitting on the edge of your seats wondering “Whatever in the world could Stephanie be doing with her days this summer?” I know. The suspense is unbearable.)  It’s an attempt to find a happy balance between scheduled and flexible.

Anyway, in the meantime, I started reading a book by Camille Fronk Olson called Mary, Martha and Me. I’m not too far into it, so I can’t give a full recommendation yet, but I wanted to share a quote I really liked:

“Jesus Christ is the one needful thing.  What does that mean amid chaotic daily agendas and anxious uncertainty for the future?  The world urges us to strictly follow step-by-step formulas to achieve success.  In striking contrast the Savior taught, ‘Come unto me.’  In my life of never-ending responsibilities, I do not need another checklist (derived from scripture or anywhere else) to define the Lord’s role for me.  I need Him.  I do not need competition that scrutinizes my productivity versus another’s efforts to make me a valuable employee; I need His strength., His wisdom, His grace to perform work that will make a difference.

… The message of Mary and Martha is not a generic, black-and-white answer to align me with one or the other of them.  On the contrary, they give me confidence to ask God directly what He wants me –specifically me– to do.”

And, p.s., the summer gods are smiling on me today because it is 7:45 a.m. and my children are still asleep. Yep, you heard right, we passed the threshold of 6 am. Praise be. I just heard beds squeaking upstairs. Party’s over.

One day into summer and we might need therapy

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Yesterday was the last day of school in these-here parts.  An exciting time, right?  And somehow it turned into another one of those mom’s-expectations-hit-the-fan experiences.

My plan:

  1. Happy welcome home from school hugs
  2. Last day after-school snack: Happy hour at Sonic
  3. Look through all their fun end-of-the-year papers and awards
  4. Let kids stay up until 10 pm! for the first day of summer and watch basketball or a movie together
  5. Get ready for camping (I already ran out and bought $90/worth of fun vacation food)
  6. Go on a 3-day camping trip as our summer kickoff activity.  Ride bikes, hike, cook camp food
  7. Sit in a lawn chair and read books and work on my talks for EFY next week
  8. Start preparing the summer “master schedule” that will begin next week.

Reality:

  1. Boys dropped backpacks and bags on the garage floor and ran outside to play baseball.
  2. “Maybe later, mom” at the suggestion of Sonic.  Then proceeded to throw baseball bat (at play) and hit my van with it.  Time out.  Ensuing arguing, crying and continued bad behavior.  Missed happy hour.
  3. They dumped out all their papers in my entryway and wouldn’t pick them up.  “That’s not mine.”
  4. Bedtime at 7:30.  I’m done with everyone.
  5. Watched news and saw weather report:  3 full days of pouring rain.
  6. Canceled camping trip.  Can’t think of a single back-up plan to do in the rain on no budget.
  7. I guess I’ll have to prepare my talks with three cabin-fevered children.
  8. Dang it.  I need the summer schedule now, but I still haven’t thought through it all the way because I thought I still had time.

Help?

The “Anti-Mom”?

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Yesterday, I came upon a headline in my news feed called “The Rise of TV’s ‘Anti-Mom’.”  I don’t really recommend the article, but I was alarmed by its main points.  It summarized the evolution of the way mothers are portrayed in popular television programs, tracing their history from Beaver’s mom and Donna Reed, to Carol Brady, Mrs. Huxtable, and then into Rosanne and some current mother characters in “Desperate Housewives” and “Modern Family.”  The implications are obvious.  What society expects from mothers has drastically changed.  We now celebrate, cheer for, and empathize with what the article calls “flawed moms,” claiming that the happy, organized mothers of the past “set up an atmosphere for women that was just impossible to actually stand by.”

Reading it made me sad.  And it didn’t even touch on the dangerous “reality” TV moms.  The very concept of “anti-mom” shows a shift from concern and care for others to an obsession with self and individualism.  I immediately thought of Sister Julie Beck’s recent talk and this bold claim:

“A lot of the antifamily messages that you are hearing are targeting young women. Satan knows that he will never have a body; he will never have a family. He will target those young women who create the bodies for the future generations and who should teach the families. They don’t even know what they’re being taught in the messages. It’s just seeping in, almost through their pores. Because Satan can’t have it, he’s luring away many women, and also men, and they’re losing confidence in their ability to form eternal families.

. . . Anti-Christ is antifamily. Any doctrine or principle our youth hear from the world that is antifamily is also anti-Christ. It’s that clear. They need to know that if it’s antifamily, it’s anti-Christ. An anti-Christ is antifamily.”

I’m not on any national news feed, but since I feel like one of the main purposes of my blog is to defend the divinity of motherhood, I just can’t keep my mouth shut.  I know that motherhood Continue reading →

Freeze frame!

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Summer is coming and this is my favorite time of year, except for the part about swimsuits.  The other day I was outside in the yard while the kids were playing.  It was sunny and warm and breezy and beautiful– the kind of day that just makes me feel content.  And then, suddenly, I felt a little bit panicky because it’s ALREADY JUNE and it’s going so fast and summer’s going to be gone and it’s going to be snowing again before I even know it.  STOP THE CLOCK ALREADY!  I really wanted to freeze the calendar and stay in June 3rd for a long, long time.  I keep thinking about that song by the Steve Miller band that says, “Time keeps on slippin’, slippin’, slippin’ into the future . . . ”  And I thought about the Book of Mormon, where it says (somewhere, I’m too lazy to look it up) that in the last days, people’s treasures will become slippery.  Time is a treasure Continue reading →