Too much Time on My Hands

Here's me and my Cael and some little green men. I love being a mom. I love my kids and I love being my kids' mom and I am thankful to be able to be home with them at this stage of my life. I so appreciate my husband picking up some extra work hours so I can do this. The stage I am at is what I would call BUSY--it's great, and it's busy. I have my 5 children and my sweet neighbor's little boy who is 3 (she passed away in September). I am serving as the Relief Society President in my ward (the Relief Society is the organization for the women of the LDS Church)--our ward is wonderful and has definitely had quite a round of challenges, especially in this last while. I am thankful to be able to serve in this calling and so thankful for a supportive family and I am also thankful for the knowledge that with every call, there comes a release...Anyway, between football for my oldest, my husband coaching football for my oldest, basketball for 2 of the kids, dance for 3 of them, school for 4 of the kids, trying to help in the classes of the 3 in elem. school, trying to help two 3-year-olds who are both the youngest adjust to being together a lot and playing "joyfully", then the other family, house, neighborhood, homework stuff plus trying to help the lovely 130 ladies in Relief Society, I definitely feel I've got a few things on my plate, I'm not "unbusy." So the other day, when one of my children's newer friends was at our house, it went a little something like this:

Kid friend: "Can I have some of what you're making?" (I was finishing a batch of muddy buddies to take over to a family in our ward whose dad/grampa had just passed away. Chocolate has universal comforting properties...)

Me: "Sure"

Kid Friend: "These are good--it seems like you are always making something when I am here."

Me: "I think you're always here when I'm getting dinner ready, so that's probably true."

Kid Friend: "You know what I think? I think you've got too much time on your hands!"

Yes, Kid Friend, that's it! I have got too much time on my hands, and thank you for pointing that out to me as you eat my muddy buddies that I so graciously shared with you. I look forward to more fantastic insights...

That took me back to an incident a few months ago: I thought I was being "fun mom"-actually, I thought I was "super fun mom" while my kids were off-track from school. My 3 girls and 3 other friend girls (who didn't want to be at home by themselves) were all there and I got them all set up for a fun kitchen project with aprons and individual dishes so they could all participate and have a fun afternoon activity! I thought we were doing great when one of them asked one of my girls why I didn't have a job, because I really should be at work. Aaah, another super insight! Oh well, sorry to disappoint, little lovelies. Meanwhile, I'll just try to make sure that you have a nice (and fun) place to be with snacks and band-aids when needed. It's so nice to have "fun mom" appreciated...

Maybe I'll actually get this all figured out someday, as I do it all again tomorrow...