Currently, there are lots of Mommy Blogs written by those young mothers who are delighting in the joy and challenges of parenthood, but not so many "mother blogs" written by older women who are no longer in the hot and heavy of child rearing.  The protocol and script for these days are often not so clearly defined, but are filled with unlimited potential.

Those days of young mothering were happy and intense days for me.  The challenge of trying to establish some degree of order in my home, keeping little ones fed and safe and actually getting to the point of putting on some makeup before my husband came home from work was enough excitement for me for decades.  I was not one who looked at glamorous executive peers who got to go to work each day and wish I were them.  This was my world, it was what I had always aspired to be.  I spent a cumulative time of 96 months pregnant which resulted in 10 beautiful children and fourteen and counting grandchildren.  I had two early miscarriages.   I spent a cumulative 17 years being a nursing mother, give or take.  I can't even begin to calculate how many soccer games I attended, but enough to see seven of my children play high school soccer and my boys all play University Soccer.   I almost had children in four decades as my first children were born in the 70's and my last child was due on January 7, 2000.  Fortunately, she came a few weeks early.  I anticipated I could have had the first child of the new millennium and could see just the headlines:  Very Old Woman has New Years Baby.  I was 46 at the time.

I wasn't one to just have as many children as I could biologically produce as it might seem.  We didn't wait to have our first child as we had taken the advice of then current prophets to heart.  Our first child, Jeanette was born almost 11 months after our wedding day.  She was a beautiful baby with dark hair.  I had seen her in a dream almost 18 months prior.   I was teaching English at a local Junior High School.  That was a difficult time for me as I was not certified to teach English and it wasn't even one of my favorite subjects.  I was so stressed I didn't have a period for nine months.  One night I dreamed that angels came to administer to me and fix the problem.  Then, in the dream I saw myself deliver the most beautiful, dark haired baby girl, I had ever seen.   In the morning, my period had resumed and a few weeks later, I met her father. 

I thought I had experienced challenging occupations in my young life.  As I had said, I had been a first year teacher and I had also investigated child abuse until the week before she was born.  But, nothing could prepare me for the challenges of parenthood.  Jeanette was extremely fussy as a baby and didn't sleep much day or night.  She would only cat nap.  I remember being  so utterly sleep deprived.  My sweet husband would take her to our unfinished basement and trying to calm her so I could rest.  But, I could still hear her.  Yet, 11 months later, after the colic subsided, we began talking about the next child.  This one would end up being a boy and thankfully, he didn't have colic. 

This blog is not going to be a detailed description of motherhood.  But it is going to be used as a vehicle to share what I have learned during my years of mothering.   This will be coming from someone who isn't awesome, who hasn't survived what others would consider monumental challenges, who doesn't hold a calling or position of renown, who isn't considered popular, talented or gifted.  The only things that qualify me to share is that I have a deep and abiding testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, I love being a woman and finally,  I am happy.  During those many years of nursing, I studied the gospel and I also developed a habit of daily journaling.

About 18 years ago, I changed the nature of my prayers.  Daily, I included three requests:  Please teach me what I am prepared to understand.  Please teach me what I need to repent of most at this time and finally, help me determine the best use of my time today.   On the days I sincerely meant those things and even wrote down what I thought I was hearing, I felt a sense of peace and progression.  And there was one more prayer that I uttered early in the year of 2001.  It was:  "Father, whatever it takes".  I gave Him permission to bring into my life whatever challenges and experiences I might need in order to know Him fully and had the potential to lead me to Eternal Life.   I found there was no going back on that request.  I am in that course and it is the toughest thing you will ever learn to love.  I have had challenges that for me were hard to bear.  They are as Neal Maxwell taught, "Designed to wring and wrench us".    During these years, I have summarized some of the lessons I have learned.  It is as if the Lord took every principle I thought I knew and rewrote it for me in my heart.  I learned about parenthood, service, repentance, faith, about Mother Eve, etc. etc.  While it seemed new to me, each principle was clearly written in the scriptures, taught in the temple ordinances and were rooted in the first ordinances and principles of the gospel. 

I won't be sharing deep doctrine, but rather simple doctrines on specific topics.  I'd love your feedback.  Sharing is a crucial component of the gospel.  As a teacher, I learned that principles are solidified in the process of sharing.  Our family also has a blog where we share what we are learning and I invite you to peruse that one as well.  http://anordinarymormonfamily.blogspot.com/

I am so excited to be at the age I am at and as I have said before, immensely grateful for one more day to prepare for Eternity. 

Love, Vicki Robinson