Dear Mom;

It seems that a big part of what can make life overwhelming is letting your mind think of all that you need to do, all that you want to do and all that would be nice to do, all at the same time!  Especially in December right!?  Prioritizing your time is a big deal since there are all of those need to’s, want to’s and nice-to-do’s that surround creating a memorable holiday season……

My wish for you is that if you are feeling crowded by too many to-do’s, that you will pause in what you are doing, take a minute to close your eyes, breathe deeply and take your expectations down a few notches!  And here’s why.  Your children are going to remember your smile more than they will remember the perfectly decorated tree.  They will remember hearing a story and singing a bedtime song more than getting five more gifts.

And very importantly, they will gain self-respect and consideration for others when a calm Mama holds them accountable for their behavior, (even in December!) kindly, gently, respectfully and FIRMLY.  (And you and I both know, yes from experience, that it’s nigh on to impossible to have the brain power to parent our children when we are barely aware of life because WE are running too fast and in too many directions!)

As a mother I appreciate the words of Charles Henry Parkhurst:

“The completed beauty of Christ’s life is only the added beauty of little inconspicuous acts of beauty–talking with the woman at the well;…showing the young ruler the stealthy ambition laid away in his heart that kept him out of the kingdom of Heaven;…teaching a little knot of followers how to pray;…kindling a fire and broiling fish that his disciples might have a breakfast waiting for them when they came ashore from a night of fishing, cold, tired, and discouraged.  All of these things, you see, let us in so easily into the real quality and tone of [Christ’s] interests, so specific, so narrowed down, so enlisted in what is small, so engrossed with what is minute” (Kindness and Love,” in Leaves of Gold [1938], 177).

I wish you the spiritual awareness to know when you are doing the truly important things in your home this December.  When you are wiping sweet potatoes from a little face, putting on little shoes and socks, when you are singing, when you kneel down to listen to a child, I hope you will feel God’s light and His appreciation for being a mother to His children.

I wish you joy in every small act of kindness you bestow on your family this Christmas.

You can do this.

All my love,

Jacque