Understanding the role I play

Just so you know ahead of time, this entry is a little churchy. But hey, I’m a little churchy so this should be expected, right! :)

Anyway, I have done a lot of thinking this week about my role as a mother...well more of just a parent in general, and what it is that I am supposed to be doing.  Has anyone else ever had that thought?  I feel like its always on my mind, and to be honest I never have an answer!

“What am I supposed to be teaching Tanner right now? Is he developing as he should? What can and can’t he eat again at this age? What words is he supposed to be saying? Do I talk or play with him enough? What if I can’t get him to sleep through the night?, etc.”

(Every mother knows that there are so many more questions than that).

Sometimes I feel like the moment you become a mom you're supposed to have this abundant knowledge of how to raise your kid, like you’re supposed to become this childhood development specialist and know everything there is to teach and understand about your child.  Well, lets be honest. If that is the case, I somehow missed it because then I wouldn’t be calling my mom and using google or youtube every time I had a question. :)

Well this week I was reminded of a very sweet moment from a journal entry from about a year ago,  "Tanner is 5 days old today! It is amazing how much joy this little bundle brings me....I had a special experience tonight as  I was rocking tanner to sleep in his room. He was fighting the sleep  but to calm him down I sang him one of my favorite primary songs, “ I am a child of God”. When I came to the verse, “has given me an earthly home, with parents kind and dear. Lead me guide me walk beside me, help me find the way, teach me all that I must do, to walk with him some day”.  I couldn't even finish the song I was so overwhelmed with the spirit . Those words meant so much more to me than they ever had before...I knew that this little chubby cute and precious baby was brought into my life so I could raise him, and raise him to know, to trust, and to recognize his heavenly parent. "

I am so grateful I wrote that down because it reminded of me that the answer doesn’t come from the early childhood psychology book, youtube, blogs or the baby sites online. The answer to, “what am I supposed to be doing as a mom and parent” comes from the parent of us all: Our Heavenly Father.

Its through His doctrine where we will find the principles and lessons we should be teaching our children. It is through bended knees that we are able to raise our kids. By loving, caring, and making the Lord a priority in our lives and in theirs, we will be able to become all that He knows we can be.

I am very grateful to know that the tools that will help me be a good mother are already present in my life. I don’t have to take a parenting class or spend hours on youtube to know that.

I may only be a mother of one really happy baby, and to most of you you probably think I have it so easy, but being a mom/parent is hard….for anyone, no matter how many kids you have or how old they are. It’s just hard. And although I don’t know everything there is to know about the stages my little Tanner should be at with his learning, I do know though that turning to the one source that knows all, will be a blessing to us both, no matter the circumstance.  

I love that I have been given this opportunity to try and sometimes fail at being a parent. And let’s be honest. We all do a lot of failing, we’re not perfect. But I’m grateful because I know that if we do the things that matter most, even thought we might not ever be perfect, we can become better.

If you have a few minutes, I loved this amazing talk about raising our children in the gospel. You should give it a listen:

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/10/parents-the-prime-gospel-teachers-of-their-children?lang=eng