I was going to write about an experience Stewart had once, but I think I'm going to save that one! It's a doozy! You'll be on the edge of your seat when I do share it with you. I haven't felt good today, so I am on some strong asthma medication right now, and shaking pretty bad, and I can't type well, and I don't want to make any mistakes, so today I'm going to write about something else.
I have asthma (hence the reason for the asthma medication!), and have had it all my life, although it wasn't diagnosed until I was about 10 years old. When I was younger, I would get Croup and end up sitting on the front porch for hours in the middle of winter with my mom. We would cuddle up in a blanket and listen to the dogs barking back to me! My mom still talks about how I would cough and get responses from the neighborhood dogs, because it sounded so similar to a barking dog. We never really talked much that I remember, because I couldn't breathe, but it was comforting to know that my mom was willing to sit there with me.
She always knew just what to do when my asthma got bad. I don't know if it was because of experience, or if it was simply her natural instinct, but what ever it was, she knew what to do. When I was in 5th grade, I was finally tested for asthma, and the doctor's confirmed what my mom had expected for years, that it was asthma, and that I needed medication to take care of it.
Mother's are like that, you know. THey know what to do in situations that they have never been in when it comes to their children. They have magical kisses that can fix any boo-boo, and hugs that can melt all your worries away. I have been pretty blessed to have 2 fantastic mothers in my life, my own mother and my hubby's mother. They have both been such great examples to me of what a mother should be.
When I started having children, so much was going on, I didn't have a chance to worry about whether I would be a good mom, until I already was one! Poor Little Man got to experience all of my mistakes, all of my over-protectiveness, and all of my crazies! (I know I still make mistakes, am over-protective, and crazy, but he got/gets the brunt of it all.) Now I worry all the time that I am not the kind of Mother that my Heavenly Father wants and expects me to be. I was reading a General Conference Talk from October 1973, by then Elder Thomas S. Monson, called Behold Thy Mother, and I came across this poem. It fits my life perfectly right now!
“‘I love you, Mother,’ said little John;
Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on,
And he was off to the garden swing,
Leaving his mother the wood to bring.
“‘I love you, Mother,’ said rosy Nell;
‘I love you better than tongue can tell’;
Then she teased and pouted full half the day,
Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play.
“‘I love you, Mother,’ said little Fan;
‘Today I’ll help you all I can;
How glad I am that school doesn’t keep!’
So she rocked the baby till it fell asleep.
“Then, stepping softly, she took the broom,
And swept the floor, and dusted the room;
Busy and happy all day was she,
Helpful and cheerful as child could be.
“‘I love you, Mother,’” again they said—
Three little children going to bed,’
How do you think that Mother guessed
Which of them really loved her best?
—Joy Allison
My children all love me, and each of them can fit John, Nell, and Fan, at different times of each day. They each have moments that they simply tell me that they love me, and that's enough. But there are other times that they also show me that they love me. Those moments are amazing!
As I am raising my own children, I am beginning to understand the true role of a mother. It is a sacred calling, and I am so grateful for my opportunity to fulfill my calling as a Mommy to my 3 little babies!
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