A Quiet Saturday

I could've... and by some people's standards, I should've, been very busy today.  There were at least 5 activities in/for/related to my Ward today.  I may be forgetting one.  Four of them have overlapping time frames.  Yes, all 5+ were/are today.  Amazing, right?  I wanted very much to attend (and could've made it with my children) to three or four of them.  Two of them haven't happened yet, as of this writing.  But we (the kids and I) haven't done one of them and will not do the other two (that I could've possibly done).

"But... you SHOULD given any understanding of the gospel and the fact that one should be at all church things at which one is expected."  I disagree, but the specifics are a bit of semantics and generalizing.  I'm not going there here.  I'm going somewhere totally different.  :)

You see, I know the week my kiddos have had.  I know it has been a busy, a VERY busy week, relative to our family lately.  I know that when my daughters do not get to bed at a reasonable time at night for too many days in a row they begin to be very difficult and, in the past, have often ended up ill when I have pushed us to participate in too many activities all in a row.

I know that they need some time at our house to just BE.  (As do I... to CLEAN!)  They need time to play.  To rest.  To aggravate me.  To get ready for other activities of utmost import (like taking the Sacrament.)

I know that my daughters' behavior yesterday (especially Ria's!) and today has been extremely similar to that which I've experienced and observed in the past just before they have a melt-down of one or two kinds (emotional and/or health).  I have contrasting experiences from our past together, from which I pull in considering how I schedule our lives.  The times I've said NO and NOT done things others may have expected me to do and the times I pushed it and did them even though I saw "the signs."  Without exception, the times I said NO turned out far more favorably for all involved.  And so, I have made a commitment to myself that I will err on the side of NOT doing things (even things I personally WANT to do very much) when I see the signs I've been seeing.  I am the Mother, afterall.

I know my children's (and my own) breaking points.  I know our needs.  I know the Lord's Will.  I know that my first and highest calling now and forever-more is and will be Mother.  I know how the Lord Forgives.  And if I'm wrong today, and come to understand that later, and then repent, I'm sure He will not only forgive me, but  He will tell me (as He has in many other instances about other subjects for which I needed to repent!) that He knows I was doing my best given my understanding at the time.


Regardless:

If you want to remember, re-learn, or learn for the first time about my above reference (the picture above), please GO HERE!  ^_^  It is a wonderful article for any woman who yearns to be A Mother Who Knows!!!