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Oh, What a Day!!
By Rebecca | March 29, 2008
Today began with a service project at a local park. It was the first Elders Quorum Activity for a new EQ Presidency. We shoveled soil, cleaned up leaves and pruned trees. The kids and I spent most of the time gathering the clipped branches and piling them near the street for the garbage man to pick up next week.
By the time the project was over we had to hurry home so the kids could go to a birthday party. We just got the invite yesterday but my daughter was so excited that I couldn’t tell her no. We got to the party several minutes late only to find that, in spite of overcast weather, all the kids were out playing in the water. (In Texas, even overcast days in March are warm enough for this kind of thing.) So I called my husband and he drove over with the kids suits.
Then we had about an hour to ourselves. This was just enough time to shower, change, catch our breath and then go pick up the kids. Once back home we crashed for a short nap.
The dog park was next on the agenda. We have one very playful and energetic dog. Nothing we can do will satisfy her need for exercise–she must play with another dog. Actually, two or more dogs are best. So frequent trips to the dog park are a necessary part of life for us. There is a playground for the kids, a fenced area for the dogs and a sidewalk that circles the park where we can take walks or the kids can ride their bikes.
So, to the park I went with the kids and Rosy. We were there for nearly an hour. The kids like it best when there are other kids at the park. Today there was a young boy, 5 or 6 maybe, who was fascinated by the kids’ bikes. His mom told me that he was Autistic and I told her he was welcome to ride the bikes when my kids weren’t riding them. She was grateful but my daughter overheard and suddenly decided she didn’t want to leave her bike vacant.
Later, however, both of my children ended up on the playground playing with the boy. My son allowed the boy to ride his bike for a while. When he wanted it back he stopped the boy and told him, “I need a turn.” After repeating himself several times, the boy’s mother noticed the confrontation and explained to her son that his turn was over. He accepted this and went back to playing on the slides. They left soon afterward.
Back home I made sure that Rosy had full bowl of water in the backyard. Glancing into the garden I noticed that one of our tomato plants has two little buds on it. Soon, they should be blossoms and then, hopefully, little green tomatoes.
At this point we tried to get some prescriptions filled, only to find that all of the pharmacies were already closed. There is no 24 hour pharmacy near our home, the kids were quite tired and it was not an emergency so we went back home.
The kids took a bath and I heated left overs for dinner. My daughter had scraped her ankle when she fell outside of Wal-Mart so after her bath I rubbed some Neosporin on it and covered it with a band-aid.
After dinner it was time to read scriptures, have prayers and go to bed. (This is our night time ritual for the moment. The kids always remember scripture reading and prayers because it delays them going to bed. And sometimes they even enjoy it.) We usually read on column in the Book of Mormon each evening and have family prayers.
Tonight, I told my daughter I would read her a story after prayers. She brought me a Clifford book and we read it.
My son had had trouble responding when we called his name today so he had to “practice” saying “Yes, ma’am” or “Yes, sir” when we called him. At first he was upset about being disciplined but after mixing us up a couple of times, (I got “yes, sir-red” and my husband “yes ma’am-ed”) he started giggling. He even commented, “This is fun!” We told him that was good as long as it helped him remember what we expected of him.
Now the children are in bed and we’re doing a little work and then we’ll go to bed. I need to make sure the songs are ready for Relief Society tomorrow. Today was good day. It busy and it was filled with ordinary events. But in it I had missionary opportunities, fellowship opportunities, a chance to see the hand of the Lord bless my life, an opportunity to watch my children bless the life of another and a chance to teach my children kindness, hard work and obedience.
This is what it means to me to be a woman of God. To live our lives so that everyday can be a good day and we can end it with gratitude in our hearts. I am glad I had a chance to share this day with you.
Topics: Blessings, Life, Relief Society, Uncategorized, Young Women |
