My Daily Job

Sometimes I start thinking that my daily to-do list looks something like this:
1. Help the kids with their schoolwork.
2. Keep the house reasonably clean.
3. Feed our family healthy meals.
4. Be kind and patient with our kids.
5. Spend quality time with Cameron.

Then every once in a while something will happen to remind me that I'm wrong. My daily to-do list should really look like this:
1. Love.
2. Teach.
3. Listen.
4. Love some more.

Recently I had one of those moments.

I had just gotten Emma down for a nap and snuck off to my room to study my scriptures and try to enjoy some quiet. Only a couple minutes had passed when Grace came running down the hall loudly demanding that I make her some orange juice. I started by offering to make orange juice after I studied for a half hour or so, but Grace wasn't going for that option. So I got some frozen OJ concentrate out of the freezer, got the pitcher down, and told her how to do it herself. ( I was a little worried that I would end up with a pitcher of OJ spilled on the floor, but at that moment peace was worth the gamble to me.)

Grace was delighted with the opportunity. Grabbing a stool and stepping up to get the water from the faucet she said, "Now when I'm grown and my kids need juice I'll know how to make it for them."

I headed back to my room a humbler mother. My daily job isn't to get housework and schoolwork and errands all done. My daily job is to love my children and help them develop the confidence and skills to carry them into adulthood. I might forget what my job is. But they know. And fortunately sometimes they are profound enough to remind me.