5 MINUTE FAMILY HOME EVENINGS

A few weeks ago I lamented in Relief Society that I was unsuccessful at getting the kids gathered for family home evening and invited the sisters to let me know how they were making it a successful event in their home.  Last week during our discussion a sister offered that she does five minute family home evenings.  I was excited to hear her story.  I felt like I could do a five minute family home evening.  I was pretty sure I could get the boys to sit for five minutes to tell a story or sing a song and read a scripture.  The trick is to be ready for that five minutes to start as soon as they all set foot in the room at the same time.  Think "herding cats." That's the best visual I can give you.

I tried it.  Promising only five minutes of family time and insisting they leave their nerf weapons in the other room we started with a song chosen by the youngest, next a prayer, then a scripture. So far things were going well. It looked to me that they were each engaged in what we were doing. Then it happened--they caught the spirit of family home evening. "Can we have our *one-minute of fame," they asked. "I want to choose the closing song." "No, I want to choose the song." "You can each choose a closing song. We can have more than one song tonight." "Can we read the scriptures?" I was so excited to experience what was happening. We were having family home evening. We were having family scripture study. We were feeling the spirit. They were asking questions about Jesus, the gospel, heaven, and hell, and when they were born. Twenty minutes into fhe their mom came home and the next hour they spent rehearsing their day at school and in fhe. We closed with prayer and it was off to bed. (The weapons going with them.)

I am so grateful for my dear friend who felt to share her five minute family home evening plan with us.  I am grateful I felt the witness of the truth and put it into action.  Once again, I let go of my strict vision of what fhe should be like and stepped aside so God could work his miracles in the heart of my kids. Parenting is easier with God as a leading partner.

* one minute of fame consists of me setting the timer on my phone to countdown from one minute. Each child gets his own one minute to do whatever he/she wants to do in front of an audience.  Some have read out-loud from any book we have in the library, some have taught a song, some have just stood in front of us making silly faces, some have shown us what funny noises their body can produce, and some have just giggled for 60 seconds. Usually before the closing prayer they ask for another minute of fame. If there is time we go for it, otherwise its off to bed.

How do you do it??

How do you young mothers, whom I admire so much, keep up with all of your responsibilities of raising children, keeping house, volunteering in school and/or the community, romancing your sweetheart, and often times working outside the home, AND maintain an interesting and fun blog? How do you juggle your energies and time to make it look so easy?

I ask because I am tired. By the end of my day I am either looking for a major diversion out of the house, or an escape into a good book or movie, or my jammies and pillow.  I'm still finding my daily routine. One that includes calmly reminding the grandkids about what their parents' expectations are for the day; keeping my laundry done up; and finding ways to contribute to the upkeep of the household chores. This is not as easy as I thought it would be. I really want to be the kind of grammy that bakes cookies for the classrooms; mends the kids clothes; keeps up with their activities and homework. But I often find myself sitting in a corner, in my favorite comfy chair, watching their antics like the proverbial fly-on-the-wall. After a full day of observing the abundance of energy exuded from 3 young boys ages 4 - 8 I'm exhausted. (Their two sisters ages 10 & 12 are docile in comparison. wink wink.)

My question is rhetorical, sort of. I get how you are able to get the things done that you do. You are young and full of your own energy.  I was there once.  It was great fun and I loved every minute of being a mom and filling my days, and sometimes my nights, full of adventures; always on the go.  You are amazing women jugglers of stuff.

Seriously. Please share with me. What does your typical day look like? How do you manage your time and resources, including your money? Do you make lists and schedules? Do you assign daily chores? Do you hire help with the kids, housework, cooking, blogging, etc? What are you willing to let slide and for how long? How do you assign priorities? With all you do for your family and followers, what are you doing to pamper yourself?

C'mon tell Grammy Nanny how you do it.