A Mother's Heart/Mind

I've heard tell that a Mother Heart is one that is shaped by her children in the process of trying to shape them. While living, breathing, and praying daily, it is a commitment to step back, re-adjust perspective with performance. It is an effort to collaborate with God, to pursue balance between self and others.

It is a determination to better understand charity -- to see loved ones with a pure love and be Full of faith.



So... I have a passion for this kind of parenting. Trouble is... my mind does not seem able to keep up. This year, with three children now in school full day, and homework trailing each of them, I have made lofty goals. Also, I have taken notes at able Anita's house, and have raised my hopes once again. I have fed myself pep talks such as, "You can do this, Stef. You are c-capable of being organized." I have dusted off my books: Organizing From the Inside Out; Confessions of An Organized Housewife; The FLY Lady; Do I Dust or Vacuum First?; (unfortunately I've not found time to get through them all).

I have even created a color-coded information system for tackling this information age. Each child is assigned a color: Blue for Zach, Red for Abbie, Green for Sam (of course), yellow for Millie, and orange for SkyMax. I have a new white board -- centrally located by the phone jack (notice no phone ( a curios mind wanted to know how the phone jack worked). It is lovingly divided into color coded categories with matching dry-erase markers. (It is tricky to keep the necc. info. in tact since it is just the right height for little fingers to just "accidentally" swipe their finger across misc. phone# and vitals recorded there.)

Each handsome Hall has a new fluffy towel that corresponds to their color (The Better to Nab the culprit that leaves their towel on the bathroom floor with) However, this must take time to implement I guess -- since they are happy to use whichever towel is closest and deposit it on their bedroom floor instead. Perhaps I should see this as a positive thing... They are not respecters of color.?

By the end of a long school week, after many heart-felt reminders to do schoolwork, practice the piano, clean-up after ourselves, and speak kind words to each other, I find I need to retreat to my room for some "Alone Time" because of the grumpy look on my face.

And so I will to strive to have a Mother's Heart, but I may need to adopt as my new credo (as Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's good mother suggested): "Come what may, and love it."