"They are more important than the house."

Elder D. Todd Christofferson talked yesterday at Conference
about how his Mom many years ago was bedridden for nearly a year.
A woman was hired to help her with the house, meals, and her very young sons
since she couldn't get out of bed.

Picture what her house must have looked like at that point.

After his Mom went over some basic instructions she told this woman:
"But the most important thing are my boys. 
Spend time with them. Read to them.
They are more important than the house."

I thought, YES, that is the kind of mother I had!
I always felt more important to her than the multitude of other things
she needed to get done each day.

Last Wednesday, right after waking up on my birthday,
the very first thing I thought of was a birthday party Mom gave me....over a 1/2 century ago!

I don't remember much at all about the party or anything about the gifts...
Come to think of it, I don't remember anything about that party.
(I don't even know where I am in that picture.)

But see those hats?
My Mom and I made those together. 
We also made the invitations.

I can still picture my Mom and me sitting in the middle of our tiny living room floor
making the hats and invitations...
and that was over 50 years ago!

And it wasn't like I was an only child.

That's the kind of Mom who raised me.
We were all more important than the house.







10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Doesn't that just make you feel great? To know you were more important to your mom than the house? And I'm sure you were that kind of mom, too.
darlene

grandmapeg said...

I can't see you in that picture either, but I do love the hats! I was impressed with Elder Christofferson's talk also. His mom had it right as did your mom.

Grandma Honey said...

Darlene...I tried to be that kind of Mom but I was not as good at it as my Mom even though she had twice as many kids as I did. I can be task oriented and just want to get things done at times.

Karen Mortensen said...

You had one of the best.

Anonymous said...

My problem as a mom was that I would rather play with my kids than clean my house. So we often had a messy house. There was more project-making going on than cleaning up after projects. We somehow need to strike a good balance between the two, I think. I could have used a bit more, "OK, kids, let's clean the house now!" than, "Let's make some more costumes!" Steve very generously would say stuff like, "Darlene, you have an amazing ability to overlook clutter." He was very tolerant. The bottom line for me, though, was happy, healthy kids. That's where I put my focus. The house would just get dirty again the next second.
darlene

Richard said...

Are you sure you were invited? I see me, John, JoAlice Weeks (first girl we knew with a Utah name, her parents were from Vernal), and Linda Allison. As I recall, you were sent inside to take a nap...

Susan Anderson said...

My mom was the same. And I'll bet you were that way as well. In fact, I'm certain of it!

=)

Scrapally said...

I loved that talk. Sometimes I wish I could go back and do things better! Love the picture!

Grandma Honey said...

Darlene~ Some days I thought I hit a balance, but others I was way off target. The best thing I did for myself was to hire a twice a month housekeeper. I had one for 10 years and next to food and clothing, it was the best money spent back then.

RIchard~ I think you were actually at that head of that table for some reason. And who was Linda Allison? I've never heard of her.

Richard said...

Suzy Zander is in the picture too. You were so young mom had to invite some of the older women to balance the table.

Look what happened last night

  Just a little pre-graduating gathering for our DIL Amy.... Not everyday a Mom of 7 and a Grandma of 7, graduates from college. It was not ...