What Mothers Can Do

"To none is given greater responsibilities than those resting on mothers in training their children in the fear of the Lord. We are all aware that when we receive these precious darlings from the hands of their Maker, they are perfectly innocent and pure."
-Woman's Exponent, April 15, 1873

I have been experimenting in the kitchen this week, but it's not what you think.  By experimenting, I mean that I have been actually trying to enjoy cooking.  Preparing dinner for  my family has long been the most stressful part of my day.  Although I know how to cook (mostly), and I do have time to cook (in part), I have not done a stellar job planning out my meals, because it's the last thing that I want to be doing.  Therefore, it is the last thing that I think about doing, and it's the last thing that gets done.  It's also, as I just said, the source of anxiety for me personally, because I have "food issues".


So this week, I decided instead to make it the most important/high priority thing on my list.  I planned out special meals, grocery shopped, and involved my children in the process.  This is not too far out of the norm.  I do cook dinner every night normally, but this week, it was not  stressful or chaotic or a burden.  It was enjoyable, memorable, and a privilege.  


I finally picked up on the fact that my husband really likes my homemade bread, so I started baking fresh rolls for him most nights to eat at dinner.  Yesterday, my daughter Autumn, who is two, helped me knead.  I stopped to notice how delighted she was to push her palms and fingertips into the soft warm dough.  Looking at the expression on her sweet, innocent face made my heart soar.  I wanted to stop and take a photo, but instead, I just placed my hands on hers, in the dough, and tried to memorize that moment in my heart.  It was a sweet reward for me as a mother to share that time together.


What can Mothers do?  Well, we can do just about anything we set our minds to.  But the most important things we can do include serving and loving and enjoying our families and the individual missions that each one of us has been called to in this life.