When we had 6 children, roughly 2 years apart in age, I felt the pressure of raising them. I had been quite cranky during the last pregnancy and I didn’t want to put the family through that again. I wanted to give these little ones the attention they deserved. I also knew that our home was a good place where we tried to teach righteousness and to love God and felt the responsibility of bringing another child into the world. I took this dilemma to the Lord. My answer… “Both are righteous. Do what you want to do.” I chose to put my energy into these wonderful children. We did end up having a 7th child 4 years later and what a gift she has been.
A poem I wrote for a Relief Society talent night in January 1990
Mothers/Pioneers
When we started having babies, I thought it would be great,
Lots of charming little darlings, I think I wanted eight.
But now that we have got a few, things aren’t as we would hope
And I find I’m saying constantly, ‘I just can’t cope’.
When I find a black banana peel in my drawer for socks,
Or a dirty grubby pair of jeans stashed neatly in a box.
When the last tube of toothpaste is in the toilet bowl,
And all the knives we like to use are outside in a hole.
When the cream for which I saved for weeks is spread across the tiles,
And the bathroom mirror’s painted with big red lipstick smiles;
When I find they’ve wet the toothbrush that was meant for only me,
And I wonder what they used it for but glad I didn’t see.
When my shoe sticks to the kitchen floor because of drinks they’ve spilt,
And texta colour Martians now adorn my favourite quilt,
When my shoe sticks to the kitchen floor because of drinks they’ve spilt,
And texta colour Martians now adorn my favourite quilt,
When the cream for which I saved for weeks is spread across the tiles,
And the bathroom mirror’s painted with big red lipstick smiles;
When I find they’ve wet the toothbrush that was meant for only me,
And I wonder what they used it for but glad I didn’t see.
When my shoe sticks to the kitchen floor because of drinks they’ve spilt,
And texta colour Martians now adorn my favourite quilt,
When I pour a glass of precious milk and things are floating in it;
When I call a child to come ‘right now’ and he says ‘wait a minute’.
It all seems just a little much, this isn’t any fun.
I wonder if I’ve got the will to simply carry on.
I’d rather have the hardships that the pioneers bore,
Than face another dirty dish, another sticky floor.
But here’s a tiny smiling face, eyes sparkling with light,
And chubby arms that squeeze my neck a little bit too tight.
And though the mess surrounds me and I’m walking with one shoe,
I’m humbled that the Lord chose me to help his children through.
As pioneers suffered much, hardship with each pace,
they must have found their courage in a trusting child’s face.
So though my task seems endless and I’d like to walk away,
I know the Lord will bless me as I serve them day by day.
Our 7th child was born when we returned to Rockhampton again