A Record

I've gone two whole days without yelling at or showing outward frustration with Austin. That must be some kind of record! I think the most common answer that I get when trying to figure out an approach with Austin is show more love. That is such an annoying answer. Sometimes I think it is impossible. But, when I do manage to show more love, let some things go, and spend at least some one-0n-one time with him, his behavior really does improve. Even if his behavior doesn't improve, at least I don't feel guilty.

I was watching conference, and there was a talk by one of the seventy about prayer. He told a story about his little boy explaining prayer in very simple terms. All of a sudden I thought that this was part of my answer. Don't get me wrong - I've never prayed so earnestly or with such purpose in all my life. What I thought was that even though Austin doesn't have the Holy Ghost yet, Greg and I do. We could plead with the Lord to help both of us control our bodies. The thing is that Austin isn't that far off (from what I've heard about boys). It really isn't fair to him that I'm his mother. I've never really been around boys. I was raised with girls. I do have one brother, but he definitely wasn't the "typical" boy. Although my dad did comment that Austin learns lessons just like Gavin (my brother) learns lessons - the hard way. Anyway, I thought that if he really pleaded with Heavenly Father, He would help him. The moral of the story is that we've had two good days, and I'll take it! Austin said he even got to go to the office to play with the "Good Boy Box" today. This is a box that his teacher put together with dinosaurs and floam that Austin can "earn" play time. He was so pleased with himself!

The thought also came to me while listening to conference to attend the temple weekly and get up in the morning to study the scriptures. (I had to write this down so it became a goal rather than a wish.) I also loved President Eyring's talk on finding all the ways in which the Lord blesses our lives on a daily basis. I would definitely say that the blessings of a happy little boy have been very apparent today. I definitely think that the Lord gives us more blessings than we even realize. I also loved Elder Oaks' talk on "good...better...best." I do so much "good" with my day, but I'm sure that it could be better or even best. It seemed like one of the main themes of conference was that we should be happy. I've heard this before, of course. We have the knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know about the Plan of Salvation. We have such an encompassing understanding of the Atonement. We should be happy (no matter what life hands us)! It was a good weekend, and although I'm going to bed exhausted, I am going to bed so grateful.

Side note: One example of today's exhaustion comes from Macy (I could actually probably give you several examples, but this one's the best). So, Greg and I decided to work outside this evening. He was putting up Halloween decorations and I pulled out all the annual flowers that we planted. This is always such a sad time for me. But, they needed to go. I thought I had more daylight than I did, so I was working frantically to get the majority of the job finished. Macy was sent inside to get her pajamas on. Instead, she decided to get herself some juice. I had just made juice that day, and the pitcher was full. Greg walked in to find the pitcher about half full, Macy drenched in apple juice, and towels on the floor. She insisted that she do it herself. After she was cleaned up, Greg tried explaining (in a very patient voice - good job, honey) that she should really ask Mom or Dad to help when she wanted a drink. She continued to insist that she could "do it all by myself." She said that she could "do it with her muscles." Then, she flexed for us showing off her very impressive guns (or so she thought). Between Greg and I, I think we've mopped up the kitchen floor four or five times. On the way down, I walked across it and it is still sticky!