Growing Boys and Ramblings

I've been thinking about my little family lately and how much they are growing up.  My "baby" is 7 and will be eight years old at the end of this year.  That means my oldest will be an official teenager this September and Thomas is turning 9 next month!  AHHHH!  (good thing I have lots of nieces and nephews who keep the babies in stock).

I had a thought the other day, that all of my kids will be AT the age of accountability by 2012--that means I can stop being a parent, right?  Just kidding.  In fact, I read the Family Proclamation with Thomas yesterday and was reminded that it is parents' (quote:) "sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, to teach them to love and serve one another, to observe the commandments of God and to be law-abiding citizens wherever they live...mothers and fathers will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations." It is pretty amazing that these words were proclaimed not only to our Church, but to the whole world!

My Sacred Responsibility

Those statements hit me yesterday. A few weeks ago, while visiting another ward conference in my Stake, their bishop said something like--don't worry so much about if your children are hearing what you tell them, worry about what they are watching you do. This reiterates that our actions speak louder than words and that as a parent I need to practice what I preach--I need to lead by example more than lecture.  

I have been keeping tabs on the NeiNei Dialogues blog (http://nieniedialogues.blogspot.com/)  lately and it inspires me.  Stephanie Neilson and her husband and family were spotlighted on Mormon.org in the Mormon Messages recently and she said a few things that I really liked. She said that she looks at motherhood in a different light since her near fatal accident. She has learned that motherhood is a privilege above anything else--that view of her parental responsibility has changed her life (in so many words). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHDvxPjsm8E. I hope I can acquire that belief as firmly as NieNie.

I have always looked forward to the day of no more diapers, when the kids can fix their own breakfast, when I don't have to hire a babysitter for date night, etc. And guess what? I'm there. Now the boys just need to grow some inches so they can ride all the rides at Disneyland! But at the same time I feel a bit sad that those innocent days/years are gone.  

My ambition? That I will succeed in raising loving, law-abiding, service oriented, spiritual, wise boys.  The test? It all starts with me.