Comments on: Mormon Motherhood Essay: “Betrayed By Diaper Wipes”

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 19:42:02 +0000

That was such a beautiful story, and a wonderful reminder of the need to prioritize what matters most.

By: Michelle

Michelle — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:48:56 +0000

susan, I think you can read some of that original as being a little tongue in cheek. (Note later in her essay how she talks about the goals she had.)

And I agree with you — the narrative here is cute. I hope you can see there’s more than just cuteness, though. 😉

One last thought, since you brought it up…. I think it’s good to realize that it isn’t impossible to do education and family at the same time. My sister is a great example. She married before she turned 20, and had 4 children in the first six years of marriage (w/ two others a couple of years later). And she graduated with two degrees with her four children in tow at age 27. She tackled her degrees a little at a time. I admire her so much because she made her decisions both with the Spirit of God guiding her with regard to not putting off having a family and with grit and determination to fulfill her goals of getting an education.

By: susan

susan — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:23:43 +0000

cute narrative, well written. but 5 kids by age 24?? you would have to have married at around age 19, while you were still in college, and had a child each year. did you not think that working towards a degree would conflict with family life? that wasn’t a very practical list.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 06:09:33 +0000

This post actually made me cry. I so know all the feelings you are writing about. I’ve spent the last 10 years feeling guilty for being at home with my children. And, while I still feel longing and a little pang in my heart sometimes for the corporate world, I am finally just enjoying my children. It is going by so fast that I want to inhale every minute with them.

By: Virginia

Virginia — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 04:33:58 +0000

What great insight, Laurel. There’s no greater title than “Mother”. The most rewarding years of my life were spent raising a beautiful family. They are now grown and gone, but we now have 17 wonderful grandchildren who are being raised by great parents.

Continue enjoying this stage of your life. It goes so quickly!

By: Stacie

Stacie — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 03:05:09 +0000

This essay is beautiful! You’ve got it all! Thank goodness for detours. You’ve helped me if we only saw what we thought we wanted to see on our “old time rail journey” we would miss a lot of great sights. Incidently, “have a llama farm” is on my list from almost 20 years ago and is still unrealized.

By: Laurel C.

Laurel C. — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 01:03:16 +0000

Gayle, I’m so relieved that someone else felt that way too. And I loved Elder Holland’s talk as well. Great video and message to remember!

By: GayleV

GayleV — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:03:52 +0000

I have experienced some of those same guilty feelings along the way, too. It is interesting that I sometimes find myself having difficulty embracing that my life did go as I envisioned it. Part of me wants what I didn’t envision–a career, recognition, and accomplishment. Those things are not the hallmarks of motherhood. I love Elder Hollands conference talk that they just created a little video about http://lds.org/conference/talk/display/0,5232,23-1-64-16,00.html. Like that quote says, the trick is to be thankful for the journey you are on now. There will be other journey’s to be thankful for later!!