The mottos we live by

As I look back over my life, I find that there were certain quotes or mottos that I would live by.  During high school my motto was "fake it until you make it".  A handy quote given as a pre-game thought.  Whether it was trying to figure out what in the world Mr. Staker was talking about in chemistry, or trying to find confidence during a serious hitting slump, I'd simply fake it until I made it.  In all fairness to Mr. Staker, if I had maybe talked a little less and paid attention a little more, chemistry might not have been so difficult.

Then in college I fully embraced the saying "a place for everything and everything in its place".  We all know I am just a wee bit OCD, so I'm sure you all see the appeal of this.  Isn't it so nice to know where everything is and just feel the peace that comes with excellent organization.  After marrying Rich, this motto became a little bit more difficult to live by since Rich doesn't share my passion for organization.  Bless his heart though, he makes many great attempts to live by the motto, but also to help me loosen up a bit.  I must say that organizing Kinley's dresser was one of the truly great days of pregnancy for me.  I have Kinley's dresser perfectly organized, bottoms in one drawer organized by type, same with shirts, jammies, etc. 

During the April General Conference, Elder Ballard gave an excellent talk targeted towards mothers.  In this talk he quoted a mother who said that she "wished she had enjoyed the "doing" more and the "getting it done" a little less".  What a perfect new motto for this stage of my life.  I think it is time to let go of my old motto and change the way I look at things.

Recently Kinley has turned into mommy's little helper.  She loves to help unload the dishwasher, make my bed, put my shoes away, and any other chore I can find for her. Typically she races to unfold the clothes faster than I can fold them.  This week, she decided to mix it up and actually try and help me.  I folded the entire batch of colors while she folded 1 washcloth (we are working on her speed).  As soon as I was done, she immediately grabbed the stack of her jammies and headed up the stairs.  I thought this was amusing, so I grabbed an armful and followed.  When we reached her bedroom, she dropped all of the jammies, opened the jammy drawer, then just chucked them all in.  Oddly enough, none of the pajamas stayed folded and none managed to make it in the correct position in my column and rows system.  I would usually view this scene with my normal eyes and see nothing but chaos in that drawer.  However this day, I was trying out my shiny new mommy eyes.  What my mommy eyes saw was this beautiful little girl beaming with pride, jumping up and down and clapping wildly.  She was so pleased with herself and I could see her sense of accomplishments.

I have had my mommy eyes for nearly 2 years now, but I just didn't know how to use them properly.  I am proud to say that Kinley's pajama drawer is still a disaster and that I'm okay with it.  I'll take a look of pride in her work over a perfectly organized drawer any day (any day being the day she is old enough to comprehend the columns and rows system).