Finding Joy in the Journey

The talks in church today were on President Monson's conference address, “Finding Joy in the Journey.” A sister told a story about when she had three kids under the age of three and her experience at the grocery store (disaster). She explained what she learned from that experience; that there were things she just couldn't do any more with the stage of life that she was in (going out to eat with the kids, shopping, talking on the phone for more then five minutes etc). What she could do was focus on being a good mother and finding joy in this stage of life because those three kids were going to grow up fast and that stage would be over too soon.

I really appreciated her thoughts because they helped me feel better with my decision to quit teaching piano lessons. One day Zane and I were brainstorming ideas on how to make piano lessons easier with Dallin besides everything we had already tried. After much discussion, we realized this really wasn’t working out and wasn’t good for our family. Other moms I know have made it work and are great moms and piano teachers, but for Dallin and me, it wasn't working. The part of me that misses teaching and being with my students thinks that as a mom we sure give up a lot, and the other part of me thinks about those six years of waiting for Dallin, the fasting and praying, and the joy we felt when he was finally placed in our arms. This side always wins. How many times have I said in the last few months that Dallin is growing up way too fast (literally, he is huge!)? It is flying by and I don't want to miss a second of it. So I will miss making music with my students and being able to interact with them. I will miss talking with my students and laughing with them. I will miss the challenge of trying to find ways to make piano enjoyable. (The best is when a student came to piano lessons grumpy and left my house with a smile on their face. This is when I knew I made a difference.) I will miss it, but I'm finding joy in my journey with Dallin.

Since quitting, Dallin and I have taken more wagon rides, played with friends, played with toys, cooked dinner at a decent time, and yes ran some errands. There is less crying and less frustration all around…and he’s worth it!

Taking a ride with cousins Drew and baby Sam

Playing with cars.

Are boys born with the knowledge on how to throw a ball and that when you push a car, you say voom, voom? I'm always making animal sounds, and Dallin has not yet mimicked me on them, but when he pushes a car on the ground, he makes a voom, voom sound (well maybe not exactly that sound, but close enough.)