Who Took My Marbles?

It is amazing to me the power of peer pressure. I find myself on a beautiful Monday morning with no pressing engagements out pulling weeds in my back yard. Now I don't mean weeding my vegetable garden or even weeding around a flower bed. No,I mean weeding a barren plot of weeds and rocks. One would ask themselves why would you put yourself through this especially when there are so many appealing alternatives. It all comes down to a heap of peer pressure and a unhealthy dose from the HOA. Don't get me started on the HOA. Needless to say they deserve a blog all their own. I feel compelled to do something about my back yard because my weeds are spilling into the neighbors yards and heaven forbid they might take root there. Don't get me wrong; of the five people who are in close proximity only one has a finished yard and one other is well on their way to finishing. And yet I feel like I have to do something to show them that I am on their side and am trying to do something about the weeds. Anyway back to the reason for my blog today. I have two small children and one that is sick. They were not able to go out and work so I had a varying combination of my older children out with me. As I was talking to one of my girls they commented on how nice the neighbors yard was looking almost overnight. They have beautiful grass that is all edged. She expressed how she would like a yard like that and how it was unfair we had a big pile of weeds and rocks for a back yard. I explained the process that we have watched our neighbors take over the last month to get that beautiful grass, but all she could see was the end result. Later another child was working next to me and she stood up and also admired the neighbors lawn. But in contrast she then went on to say "Our yard will be just as nice as that when we are through. It will be hard work now but it will be worth it." What a difference. I also found it interesting the first child couldn't wait to get back inside while the second worked hard and happily despite her seasonal allergies beside me until I went inside. It was amazing how the difference in their perspectives influenced how hard they worked and the quality of their work. I am pretty sure who will be enjoying the yard most when it is done.

So I find myself again at the end of another school year...exhausted, relieved and a little melancholy. I find that it takes a lot of trust to allow your child to go to school. By the end of the school year they have spent a huge amount of their time with a teacher that you know very little about and since their teacher apparently is the expert on all subjects they wield an enormous amount of influence on your child. After sharing your child with that teacher for a year you start to feel a certain bond to the teacher; a certain level of gratitude that your child came through the year relativiely unscathed. Anyways, to get to the point, I feel compelled at the end of the year to find a way to express my gratitude. Since most of our grade school years have been spent in California the expression of gratitude was easy...A Book of Mormon with their testimony. This year was a little different because all of their teachers are LDS and therefore the Book of Mormon seems a little pointless. So what to do, what to give? Well once again Walmart bailed me out. We found the prettiest little forget-me-not plants. What better way to say thank you than with a pretty little plant that says don't forget me because I won't forget you! Forgive my boasting but; genius.:)
And so begins another summer. The kids have been out of school for 2 hours and I have already had to break up 5 or 6 fights, explain the disciplinary procedure for the summer, referee lunch, console a child for a cancelled play date, hear about all the things they want to do this summer and how they are already bored. Oh and did I mention I spent my last hour of my semi-free time (that means I only had two kids with me)registering kids at the new school and at UVU. And with that motherhood calls.

Being a mother of seven children I find that my life seems to cave in on me at times and I become extremely focused on my little world. After recently attending a conference where Sherie Dew spoke I realized that my circle of influence has become very limited. I also realized that I have something to say to the world. In fact, I have a lot to say. So in an effort to remedy this I have obviously started a blog.
I find that I struggle with many of the concepts behind facebook and therefore have decided to pass on that avenue of expressing myself. Perhaps in time I will change my mind but for now this will have to suffice. I will make no excuses for my opinions or rantings but please realize that that is all they are. And with that my time is up...I have one child climbing the back of my shirt and another hanging on my arm asking me to snuggle them and I obviously can't pass up that chance.