MagMadness MONDAY!!!

I think we will make this the forever face of MagMadness Monday. Hope she doesn't mind.

CEO of the GREATEST CORPORATION ON EARTH!!

The phrase, "I'm bored" is a big no-no in our house. I am never bored. There is always something to be done. And when there isn't anything to do, which is rare, I relish in the moment that there is nothing to do. So when Rachel informed me that church is boring, I squelched that one immediately. What she meant was, I don't understand, therefore, I am bored. So we focused on what she can understand, which is the sacrament prayer. We read it together from Moroni and then I challenged her to listen closely at church....(in the midst of all of this, I am force feeding the baby, cleaning Brooke's spilled milk, finding shoes, gathering my things for my sharing time lesson)...so it wasn't the quiet, spiritual moment you are all envisioning. Nevertheless, I felt good about the tiny lesson we had and off to church we go.
During the sacrament, she was snuggling close to me and I was whispering in her ear some of the things I was feeling in regards to the sacrament, when she asked, "Mom, why do those boys pass the sacrament?" I replied, "Because they have the priesthood." She asked me, "Do girls get the priesthood?" I said, "No, Heavenly Father gave us our own special role on this earth.'' To which she replied, "Oh, yeah, you clean." BAM!-end of spiritual moment.
Okay, so I wouldn't normally be annoyed, but this just so happens to be the SECOND time she has referred to me and my role in our family as "The Cleaner."(see earlier post "Kids Say the Darndest Things")

What is a mother's role in the family, besides "woman who always cleans"? To make me feel way more important, I have decided to dub myself the CEO of our home and Shawn the CFO. While he serves diligently to provide the financial stability we all appreciate, I, to quote Rachel, "do everything else." And what is "everything else?" In a nutshell, (because us mothers know the list is very long), it's executing the plans Shawn and I have discussed as a means to creating a loving home environment. This is no small task, mind you, and I take the challenge seriously. It requires all of the necessary skills needed in running a successful business, (i.e. time/money management, organization, delegation, ingenuity, assertiveness, flexibility...etc.) That's some serious skill! And these skills don't pay in money, fame, recognition, like in the "outside" world. It pays differently. Better.
It was mentioned in the last Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting that there is a difference between "homemaking" and "housekeeping". Apparently, Rachel thinks I've got the housekeeping down, but what about my skills in making a home? I am seeing that these skills are constantly being tested, tried, and refined. Because motherhood does not reward with instant gratification. No Way! But when the moments come, it is better than anything else. Like when one child accidently breaks the piggy bank of the other child, and they care more about each other's feelings than the broken toy. These are the moments I love, even if they only come twice a year. They're still worth all the blood, sweat, and tears. And, hopefully, it is creating a strong corporation that will stand the tests of time.
What are you doing to make your house a home? And what are some good housekeeping tips, because, apparently, I am not very time-efficient?

P.S. To those of you who think our home is clean(i.e. jimmy), my secret is that I know when you're coming and I hide everything in inconspicuous places so as to create the illusion that we do not live in utter squalor. So if you want the truth, just pop in unannounced at any given time(but mostly between the hours of 4-6pm) and you will see an amazing science project in the works. The secret is out!