Being the pregnant lady that I am, by the time my daughter's nap time rolls around the last thing I feel like doing is sitting down and writing something. Her nap time has become my nap time as of late, hence the recent lack in blog posts.
My daughter has taken a recent liking to finding cups of water that we leave on the table and dumping them out. Everywhere. I have been trying to teach her not to do this, while also becoming better myself at being mindful of where I leave my cups of water. In spite of this, we still seem to end up with at least two cups of water dumped everywhere during the course of the week.
A few days ago, I was making breakfast in the kitchen when I heard the familiar sound of water spilling all over the table and the floor. My daughter woke up early that morning, had been especially difficult because she was cranky, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. I got angry at her, raised my voice, and chewed her out for dumping out the water in that cup. As I felt myself get angry, I heard a tiny thought in the back of my head reminding me that this is really not a big deal and that I should not choose to get angry. But I was angry, and I was going to let her know that mom was not happy with her!
After I finished my short rant, I immediately realized the small thought that was stifled by my angry feelings was a prompting of the Spirit. And, to my dismay, I had ignored it. Had my anger improved anything? Certainly not. In fact, it just made the whole situation worse. If I had I chosen to respond in firm but loving correction rather than anger, that teaching moment could have turned out a lot better than it did. Recognizing my mistake, I quickly prayed for forgiveness, remedied the situation with my little girl, and the rest of our day went a whole lot better!
Later that night, after I had put my little sweetheart to bed, I sat down and pondered this experience and prayed once again for forgiveness. I felt bad on so many levels - bad for allowing my anger to get the best of me and bad for failing to listen to a prompting of the Spirit. As I pondered, the following thoughts came to my mind: It is always easier to get angry than to let your anger go. Getting angry doesn't require any self-control and does not build character in any way. In fact, few things can erode and destroy good character more quickly than anger. We see that lesson taught over and over in the Book of Mormon.
I am grateful for these promptings of the Spirit that have been very important reminders for me as I journey along my adventure in motherhood. The beautiful thing about promptings like this is that they come from a loving Heavenly Father who wants to help me reach my full potential as a wife and mother. I have never been left feeling like I was reprimanded or chastised after a prompting like this. Rather, I have been left feeling empowered and blessed with understanding that will lift me to higher levels and make me a better wife, mother, and woman.
Although it is slightly embarrassing to share this story and admit to my mistakes in parenting, I feel strongly that the lessons from this story are too precious to keep to myself. Needless to say, I am going to be working harder to develop my spiritual muscles of self-control. I am grateful for correction, the opportunity to repent, and a loving Heavenly Father who is guiding me through the process of becoming more like Him.
