General Conference

A couple weekends ago we had General Conference, which is a world wide conference made up of five sessions, 2 hours each.  Each session is made up of speakers from our church leadership.  It is not just for our own church members to listen to, it is a world wide thing.  I invite all of you to listen to even just one talk, and see what you think.  At the very least, you might learn something new about what us "Mormons" believe.

For me it is something I look forward to greatly.  It happens twice a year (The first weekend of every April and October.)  For our family it is very much like a Holiday weekend, full of family togetherness and even traditions.

I wrote about this a little bit HERE.  That Saturday was a hard day for me, and Jason had been working.  I was feeling a lot of guilt about not following through with the expectations I've placed on myself, especially concerning our traditions.  I was really worried about my children waking up on Sunday morning, and finding that I did not make "Sticky Bums" for breakfast.

 I've had several people ask me what ended up happening.  Were my children upset?  Did anyone notice?

So here is the update.

 Only one child said anything about it!  Harrison came in the kitchen as I was finishing up these delicious Muffins for breakfast, and asked, "Hey mom, I thought you were making cinnamon rolls."  I said, "These are cinnamon rolls."  He said, "OH! OK!"  And ran out.

I think Jason must have talked to the older kids, and threatened that I might cry if they asked about it.  All I heard all morning long was, "This is SO good Mom!" and "Thanks SO much Mom!"  and "You're amazing Mom!"  I gotta say, I soaked it up!  I loved every minute of it!

It was really quite brilliant of them.  It put me in a great mood, and it gave me motivation and desire to serve all of them more.  So between sessions on Sunday I made and rolled out sugar cookies in Easter shapes.  We decorated them with frosting and candy after dinner that night.  Jason was LOADS of help, and helped me make a yummy pork roast dinner.  Our good friends Kevin and Alyssa came over with their three daughters for the afternoon session and dinner.

The day turned out quite wonderful and peaceful.  I went to bed that night feeling worn out and happy.

This was a great activity for all the kids after 2 days of trying to sit reverently and listen.  I'm really glad that I had put forth the extra effort to do this because they were all ready to run wild if I hadn't been prepared with this 'organized' activity.

Expectations and Guilt

I do not like whiner's.  I am trying really hard to not be a whiner and complainer.

Sorry to say this post is going to be kind of whiny.

If you know me well, and are close to me, you know that I have been feeling irrational, emotional and slightly crazed.  I even called my mom a few weeks ago concerning a situation because I honestly didn't know if I was overreacting, or if I was justified in how I felt.

When I had baby number 3 my mom gave me some great advice. She has 7 children herself, so she is full of great advice.  She told me to have NO Expectations.  Do not expect to shower every day.  Do not expect to have a clean house.  Do not expect to have dinner made every night.  

This was great advice.  It really did help me.  I was able to let things go, in order to keep my sanity.

She told me to do the 'No Expectations' thing for at least a year after baby number 3 was born.

If you your expectations are low, or non-existent, than it's really hard to fail.

I realized this evening, after a really long day, that I should start following that advice once again.  I need to lower my expectations.  I need to eliminate my expectations.

I had a very good and productive day yesterday.  My children were so well behaved, and I got so much done.  I had so much energy.  There is a pattern, and I should've known that for the next two days at least I would be wiped out, overwhelmed, tired and overly emotional.

The problem is after having such a great day, last night I went to bed with high expectations for today.

I totally set myself up for failure.

This is General Conference weekend and Jason was working.  When Jason finally got home at 9 o'clock, and saw that I was so upset, he asked if I tried to watch both sessions of conference with five kids.  I said that yes I did.  He responded with, "Well, that would've ruined my day too."

What I expected                                          What Really Happened
Pancakes for breakfast.                                   Cereal Instead.

Clean my bathroom.                                         Never Happened.

                     

Change my sheets.                                            Never Happened.

Kids would watch Conference with me.          Only the older two 
                                                                      tried.

Make lunch, Sticky Buns and Sunday Dinner    I fell asleep on the 
                                                                         couch.

               

The kids would Sustain the Prophet with me.    3 out of 5 preferred 
                                                                      to wrestle instead.

Make a yummy Dinner and Relax          I put Lily in charge, took a 
                                                            shower, then fell asleep.

I ended up making PB&J for dinner at 7:30, which is bed time for little boys.

This afternoon I told my mom how guilty I feel.  She scolded me.  I always make Sticky Buns aka Sticky Bums, for General Conference Sunday morning breakfast.  Tomorrow my children will most likely be upset to wake up and find .... nothing.  It's hard to not feel guilt.  I expect this of me, they expect this of me.  

Time to let the expectations and the guilt GO!

Now for some really sweet stuff.  The kids and I watched the movie HOP for the first time yesterday.  There is an army of Rabbits called the "Pink Beret's" in the movie.  I woke up this morning at 8:15 with Max in my face.  In a hushed, excited voice he told me, "Glenn and I are pretending we're the Pink Berets, and we are cleaning the whole house for you!"  I think the whole idea was Maxwell's.  Glenn sat in his room reading while Max ran around the house cleaning.  He actually accomplished a lot of work!  He Swiffered the main living area and all the stairs.  He cleaned the whole family room really well.  He sorted the laundry.  It was really awesome!

The other really sweet thing today - 

Glenn and I cuddled up and watched the whole afternoon session together.

I know that is simple, but I loved every minute of it.