To All the Moms Out There

I'm gonna be honest. Sometimes I resent that it's my job to take care of the kids 24/7. It's exhausting and thankless much of the time. Sometimes (actually a lot of the time) I resent that it's my job to think of meals to make, buy the food, cook the food, and then clean-up too when Matt is busy studying for the LSAT or whatever. Sometimes I resent that it's my job to do all the laundry and attempt to keep the house clean. I don't mind any these tasks at all in moderation, but they don't come in moderation. They are constant. Frustration peaks at times like yesterday when I was trying to get out of the house to go meet a friend. I was gonna be right on time and at the last minute when I was just about to load Lincoln in the stroller with Bennett, Lincoln spilled his milk all over everything. After mopping all that up, I caught a whiff of something. Lincoln had pooped AGAIN right after I had already changed his diaper. Seriously? AHHH!!! Can't I ever be on time?

Anyway, this morning, I read the talk by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life". There was one paragraph in particular that spoke to me. 

"God has designed this mortal existence to require nearly constant exertion. I recall the Prophet Joseph Smith’s simple statement: “By continuous labor [we] were enabled to get a comfortable maintenance” (Joseph Smith—History 1:55). By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires."

When I think of my daily tasks as something that is meant to refine my character and to be the instrument of my service to God, my family and others, mopping up the milk, cleaning up the poop, staying up with a sick child, and grocery shopping don't seem so bad. In fact, it seems good... really good. So, to all you moms out there, keep on going. What you're doing does matter. In fact it matters more than anything else you could be doing.

Last, but not least, many of you, I'm sure, have already seen this, but I liked it a lot. I could especially relate to the baby getting in the toilet.