"You have TOO MUCH children!"

When Seth was maybe six years old, the two of us were grocery shopping at Albertson's in Billings, Montana. You know those coupon dispensers that are sometimes located in stores? Albertson's was famous for those; they were literally down every aisle. So Seth was running from aisle to aisle, pulling coupon after coupon after coupon out of each dispenser. Ahhhh! In desperation, I shouted after him, "Luke! Isaiah! Eli! Seth! Whatever your name is! STOP!!!" At that point, Seth turned to me, and in a voice that I'm pretty sure everyone in the entire store could hear, declared:

"You have TOO MUCH children. You can't even remember their names."

Above is a photo of the five of them about a month ago. How adorable are they? I love them very much, and nothing I have ever done or will ever do could be more fulfilling or bring me more joy than being their mom. Still, like most moms, I have my days of frustration, days when I feel like no matter how hard I try, I'm not successfully keeping up with all of them and their individual needs. And for those of you who might be thinking this could not possibly be true with kids the ages of mine, I would say to you, "Guess again."

Motherhood is not for wimps. It's hard. It's the best thing ever, but it's also the hardest. That doesn't change when kids get older; it's just hard in different ways.

Last night was one of those times when I felt pulled in multiple directions, without sufficient energy for any of them. I'm not sure why. Well, that's not true. Wednesday is my busiest day of the week; I run from start to finish with little down time. By the time I am home for good, it's around 8:00, and I'm always exhausted. That was definitely the case last night. And my allergies were terrible, and I was resisting an allergy pill because I really, really hate taking medicine.

I came home to what felt like about 100 different requests from at least that many kids, though in reality, it was just four kids, four of those five cute kids you see above. Eli needed help filling out his online application for housing in Rexburg for the fall. This is an exciting time for him as he transitions from mission back to college, and yes, I definitely wanted to help him select the right living situation and apply. But then Shulamith was planning a temple morning for today and wanted to discuss which session we should attend, what time we should leave, who wanted to go, etc. With her baby due any day now, she wanted to get to the temple one more time (which we ultimately did, and it was delightful!), and I wanted to help her plan that. Then I had been helping Isaiah all week deal with some administrative process details relating to his new job, and now he was driving all the way to Denver for a mini-vacay before the new job begins, so I was tracking his progress and worrying about him driving so far all alone at night.

Then Seth walked in the door from his Young Men's activity and ran straight to the bathroom and then to bed. He was nauseous and had a headache and was practically to the point of tears, he felt so crummy. "Really?" I thought. "Right this second? Right in the middle of all this other stuff I need to do, I now have a sick kid too?" But then I experienced the most incredible tender mercy. Isn't that always the case? When you feel so totally overwhelmed that you're not sure how to go even one step more, an unexpected and perfectly lovely blessing comes straight from Heaven.

Eli was so sweet and soft with Seth; it brought tears to my eyes. He got him a blanket, went to the store and bought him a Sprite, and found him something to watch on TV. But then the best part. He asked Seth if he would like a Priesthood blessing, and Seth said yes. No one was home to assist Eli, so he did it all by himself.  I watched in total awe as my son so carefully and thoughtfully exercised his Priesthood authority to bless his little brother with health and strength. Even better, I watched Seth, whose faith in this process is so real and so pure, and who admires and looks up to Eli so much. The love between the two of them was so evident to me in that moment that all the stress and struggles I'd been feeling disappeared. Turns out Seth had become dehydrated from running around outside in 100 degree heat and drinking far too little. He felt better almost immediately, the result of a good amount of water, a can of Sprite, and a Priesthood blessing.

Too much children? Yes, that comment has become a standard family joke any time I become over stressed about anything involving one or more of my kids. But it isn't true. I do not have "too much children." I have exactly the right children, and I can't imagine life or eternity without them.