This last week I enjoyed Loving the Little Years: Motherhood in the Trenches by Rachel Jankovic. The book had great reviews and I loved the idea of the title.
So often the grandmotherly type tell me to enjoy these years because they go by so quickly. I am trying very hard to really enjoy the time at home with my littles. They are only so little for so long! I want to remember laughing with them and playing with them and creating with them. I DO NOT want to remember being so worried about having the kitchen cleaned perfectly or the living room in magazine condition. (Un?)Luckily, I have no problem dropping a cleaning project to get my hands dirty with my kids.
I am also trying to wholly and completely put myself aside during their waking hours and attend to their needs. That's a bit more slow-going than I had hoped. As I have been taught, "the natural man is an enemy to God" (Mosiah 3:19, and this is an excellent article on that same topic). I am trying to learn from my children the behavior that I should model for them. In essence, we are a circle: them teaching me how to become "as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love..." and me teaching them to love the Lord and gain their own testimony.
Wow... Okay, back to the book...
The book was enjoyable. It didn't provide many insights or "tricks" that I haven't known or done before. It was nice to hear that other people have and are proponents of "allowing" us to enjoy our children. So often, in our world today, we try to force our children to become little adults.
Up next, The Power of Positive Parenting by Glenn I. Latham.
I try really hard to let my kids be little as long as possible. I do kind of feel guilty about having a messy house sometimes but then I think about what I am giving my kids.
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