Thankful to be a mom

Mother's day has come and gone in our house (sigh). Gotta love the day when the food appears, the house stays clean, presents and flowers abound, and I had nothing to do with any of it. And to top it off, I got a good long nap. Thank you to my sweet family for such a great day. John was even sick with a horrible cold, but he still made sure to pamper me. Kinsey did a lot of the food prep, and all the kids were super sweet. Cooper even said, "You a pretty mommy". Awe, that's the best gift ever.

As I think about being a mother, I realize how grateful I am to have these good kids. I can't for a minute claim any sort of "saint-hood" or "perfection" as a mother, far from it. But as I stumble through raising these kids, I am so impressed with the people they are becoming and I am grateful to be part of it. But you must also know that along with the good moments, there are very hard and frustrating moments as a mom. And these "good kids", do their fair share of eye rolling, complaining,and arguing. Family Scripture study can see like "family argument time". A happy family outing can start out with fighting over seats in the car. And my good advice can be thrown back at me with a "you just dont' get it mom". So, as happy as I am for my kids when they make good choices, there are plenty of frustrating moments when I wonder where I have gone wrong as a mom.

For the past year, I feel like it took all my energy to just get through each day, and I am sure I was never near the "perfect" mother status. Many times I let frustration and impatience cut into my mothering skills...and I wish I hadn't done that. But I have decided that we dont have to be perfect as mothers. We just have to do our best and love our kids and try to do better. I am thankful that I have the gospel as a guide and that I can repent and that I don't have to compare myself with others. I just have to mother my own kids.

So though I am far from perfect, as I contemplated motherhood yesterday, I realized that I am grateful for it all. The times that they bring me joy, the times that they bring me sorrow, the times I succeed at teaching them something, or the times I miserably fail. After talking to my mom, I realize that is just how motherhood is. And I would not trade it for anything. I am so glad I had a mom that taught me this.