Pulling my hair out with a smile

I just spent a long day driving and hiking with my little family. We took a day trip to Craters of the Moon. It was a perfect day for it, the weather was beautiful. My kids really enjoyed themselves. And I mean REALLY enjoyed themselves. To the point of driving me batty. My littlest Princess who is 2 1/2 is a world class explorer and rock climber. In HER mind. She wanted to climb the rocks, teeter on the edge of the trails, and refused to hold Mommy's or Daddy's hand.
   The drive home, Ugh! My Big Boy teased my second Princess. Oldest Princess teased second Princess. Littlest Princess squirmed and whined and fought and........whew!
  I'm going insane and feeling like the grouchiest mom for scolding my kiddos every 2 minutes. And at that same moment I'm feeling sad about how quickly they are growing up. I catch a glimpse of Big Boy's face and it looks like, well, a big boy! Ahhh!
   This reminds me of some thoughts I had a while back. About raising kids. The time that they spend being infants, toddlers, terrible two year olds, and exhausting little people, is so brief. Such a short time of my life, in the whole scheme of things. It will be gone before I know it. I'm OK with sacrificing (if you can even call it that) some things the world views as necessary to my happiness. I'm fine with wearing "mom clothes" for a little while. I'm good with being home in the evenings, not out on the town. I'm happy to NOT work out of the home. Heavenly Father has trusted these little spirits to my care, and to my husband's care. I have my whole life to take care of me, but just this short while to give these children a good start in life.
  I love what Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said in April Conference of 2008. ......"how important it is to focus on the things that can only be done in a particular season of life. If a child lives with parents for 18 or 19 years, that span is only one-fourth of a parent’s life. And the most formative time of all, the early years in a child’s life, represents less than one-tenth of a parent’s normal life. It is crucial to focus on our children for the short time we have them with us and to seek, with the help of the Lord, to teach them all we can before they leave our homes. This eternally important work falls to mothers and fathers as equal partners. I am grateful that today many fathers are more involved in the lives of their children. But I believe that the instincts and the intense nurturing involvement of mothers with their children will always be a major key to their well-being. In the words of the proclamation on the family, “Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children”