I came across this article in the Wall Street Journal which I found very insightful on how we are raising our kids.

Nestled in the Lap of Luxury

Deep thought by Lydia Ellis

You may or may not know that when I run in the mornings, I listen to conference talks on my Ipod. Today I listened to "Remember, Remember" by Pres. Eyring from last fall, and his talks always really, really teach me something I need to know. He talked about writing down each day the way the Lord has touched our lives.

I had one of those hectic, crazy days yesterday, you know the kind where you run around like a crazy person and end up accomplishing precisely nothing. Those days always make me grumpy. As I was leaving Costco, the guy at the door checked my receipt (I think they all know me by sight, I'm there like twice a week) and asked me how I was. I said, "Well, I'm at Costco at 8:30 with 2 kids, what does that tell you?" And then he started singing "Count your blessings, name them one by one..." Okay, I was way humbled.

I'm grateful for my awesome kids, for their health and their cute individual spirits. I'm grateful for my incredible husband who doesn't bat an eye when I didn't make dinner or do the dishes for two days. Right then, I felt grateful that the Lord put this silly man at the door to check my receipt and my reality.

Single mom

I got a little spoiled in Utah. Eric didn't have to travel much, so I had him home evenings and weekends. We also had easy-ish callings, so church didn't take away from family time, either. Since we've moved to Ohio, the travel has steadily increased, until it reached its peak this month, with Eric being home about 5 nights in the last three weeks. He got home from New York or Dallas or somewhere on Wednesday night, and then left on Thursday afternoon to go to a handgun training camp in Las Vegas with his dad and brothers. He gets home from that in the wee hours Tuesday morning and then goes to work later in the morning when he wakes up. I really miss him! It's been a little hectic trying to get everyone to where they need to be, to have Family Home Evening, make everybody do their chores, etc.

But it's not all bad. I did take a 4 hour nap today without any interruptions or guilt. I woke up to a major crazy mess, but since dad wasn't coming home, there was no urgency to have it cleaned up or dinner on the table at a certain time. That is kind of nice, to not have a schedule to stick to. We eat out a lot, too, when he's gone. It's nice to be able to let the laundry or dishes pile up so that I can finish a project, knowing that I can get it all put away the day he comes home.

I miss him terribly, and since I don't sleep well when he's gone, I guess I needed that nap today.