I have to say that I am very grateful to live here in Bethesda. We live in a great apartment, in a great location, close to school, work, shops,etc. There are many advantages. It also happens to be a very affluent area, which has its pluses and minuses, especially when one is not affluent and has a husband in graduate school. Christopher goes to a great school (and, yes, I know I am using "great" way to much!) where the parents donate tons of money and the teachers are fantastic. The homes in "The Kenwood" section directly behind our home sell in the $4-5 million range and the homes around Christopher's school are somewhere in the $2-3 million range. And, the prices haven't been affected by the economy. Why am I telling you all this? I have been feeling inadequate of late that perhaps I do not have my kids involved in enough "extra" stuff. You know, language classes, music classes, 2-3 sports activities, and so on. We are on a tight budget and so I let them pick one class in the fall and one in the spring. A lot of the other parents have their kids in everything or at least a lot of things. Then I think that I can try to teach them some things myself. I know basic piano, I can play a little bit of sports, I can pretend to know some basic Spanish. So, as I was thinking that I was failing in adding these things in on top of the laundry, cooking, reading lessons, playdates, one class for Mark and one for Christopher, since it is Spring, trying to clean, still staying fit myself (which is another bummer. Ran a marathon and didn't lose a pound!), and the general long, dull list that can be motherhood. I then came across this article:http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=7f1a6169b62fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&hideNav=1
(I don't know how to link to words yet. Another thing on my long list of things to learn!)
If you don't have time to read it, it basically reviews the Proclamation on The Family but also reminds us that we shouldn't overbook ourselves or our kids so that we have time to focus on fortifying our homes and building lasting traditions and relationships with our kids. If home is somewhere they love to be, what is wrong with that? I love having a living prophet and apostles that always have the words we need to hear at the right time.
So, I know I said motherhood had a long, dull list of duties, which is true at times. But, last night, Mark got sick with the stomach flu and as I was cleaning up his vomit this morning from all over his room (I seriously don't know how it got some places) he said, "Mommy. You are such a nice mommy to clean up my throw up. Thank you." Now, that make all of the menial jobs sooo worth it!
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4 comments:
I just emailed you how to do a link. And since when is there no such thing as a parenting instruction book? (I've been hearing that a lot lately.) It's RIGHT THERE in the Ensign!
Such a nice post. Thanks!
Hey Gina, I think you look great! Thanks for this post.
I was starting to feel bad, too, just reading this! I don't have my kids in classes and I am not doing the things you do, either! I am glad you posted the link. I remember him saying something about this, and I agree. All of the hyper scheduling of kids is often well-intentioned (to give them all the advantages they can) but seems that it could end up being overwhelming. It also could be due to the fact that in many of these families both parents work and they need babysitters for their kids.
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