Be Present

This past week I have had a couple of experiences that have really driven home the idea that I need to work on being present. The first was an Oprah show this week about a mom who drove to work one day as usual, went through out her entire day of work as usual and got ready to go home as usual. However, her day did not end as usual. That morning, her husband, who usually takes the kids to day care, had a dentist appointment and had asked his wife to take their daughter that day. Just as she was preparing to leave a co-worker came running into her office to tell her that she had left her daughter in the car ALL DAY!! When they ran out to the car, they found that her 2 year old daughter had died of heat stroke. Just writing this brings tears to my eyes. I can't imagine the horror and guilt of that mother, and I can't imagine the awful hours that poor little girl spent in the car as she died. On the show, they had other mothers talk about close calls that have happened in their lives with their kids because they are so overwhelmed with all of the things that we, as mothers, are trying to do. Trying to do for our kids, for our husbands, for our families, our friends, our church, etc. It made me think about my boys and about how sometimes I get so caught up in the everyday chores and activities that I forget to be present with my children. My mind seems to always be on the next thing that I need to get done. Even when I'm playing with the kids, in my mind I am thinking of the next thing I need to do, the dishes that need to be done, grocery shopping, finances, etc. That pre-occupation keeps me from being present and enjoying the moments I have with my kids and also makes it very easy for an accident to happen. Which brings me to my next experience this week. Yesterday morning Kade was watching conference and I was making breakfast. Kellin & Ethan were playing, or so I thought. All of a sudden I looked up from what I was doing to see Ethan pulling a large glass bowl out of the cabinet and I screamed as it shattered all over the kitchen floor. He was literally in the middle as shattered glass flew everywhere. I ran over to him praying that he didn't get cut by the glass. Luckily, he had just one small cut on his foot. It could have been much worse.
Later that day, during conference I was really touched by President Monson's talk about this same idea. About living in the here and now and enjoying the moments we have with our children while we still can. I especially loved the part where he said that the messes and fingerprints will dissappear all too soon and we will miss them dearly. I appreciated the reminder that what is most important in this life are the people we love, our children and our spouses, and that nothing comes before them. I know how easy it is to get caught up in being the super mom, doing everything we can for our kids and for our husbands, but I think that if I can just try to be present with my children & my husband, the rest just really doesn't matter so much.