Today’s Reading: Mosiah 20
11 And it came to pass that the people of Limhi began to drive the Lamanites before them; yet they were not half so numerous as the Lamanites. But they fought for their lives, and for their wives, and for their children; therefore they exerted themselves and like dragons did they fight.
I still remember the moment I snapped. As I climbed the stairs to put yet another basket of laundry away, I spotted a dirty sock out of the corner of my eye. Seriously! Another dirty sock on the floor! How many times did I have to tell my children not to take off their dirty socks and leave them all over the house? I completely lost it and turned that dirty sock into a battle cry…NEVER AGAIN WOULD I PICK UP ANOTHER DIRTY SOCK! Thus began the worst period of my life as I waged war against the very people I loved the most. A pseudo Dragon Mother was born.
In one year I had gone from a tranquil mother of two children to five under the age of six. I felt desperate for the peace and order I had before my life turned upside down. Yet, everywhere I looked I saw nothing but dirty socks that seemed to be dropped by dirty-sock-making children. I miserably fought my war trying in vain to “teach” them the Boy Scout rule of “Leave No Trace.” However, all I seemed to accomplish was a swarm of frustration. I began to view my children as if THEY were the proverbial dirty sock instead of amazing little packages of sunlight that happened to fling their dirty socks all over the house. Instead of fighting FOR my children like a dragon, I was fighting AGAINST them.
Overtime, I began to see more clearly that my perspective on the enemy significantly determined my success in winning the war. When I felt miserable, unappreciated, and bitter trying to fight against my children it began to make sense. I lost the battle each day I decided to fight the wrong enemy! They didn’t need to be conquered or changed or forced. They only needed a true Dragon Mother…
-to love them, cheer them on, and fight the world for them and with them;
-who knew about all their dirty socks and loved them anyway;
-who could tell them that despite all the things they did wrong, they were not defined by those “dirty socks”;
-to patiently teach them that the pathway to true happiness lies in learning how to take care of all the real and figurative “dirty socks” they will have in mortality.
I still remember the moment I most vividly caught a glimpse of what it meant to be a true Dragon Mother, worthy to fight the enemy alongside the people of Limhi. I stood in front of the dryer one afternoon. I pulled out an item of clothing, one by one, and sorted it into one of six baskets for the kids to fold. Suddenly, without warning, I became overwhelmed with emotion as I held the shirt of one of my daughters and thought to myself, “How I love this daughter, she is so kind and good, I am so glad she is mine. I just love watching her grow up!” I hugged that freshly laundered shirt and lovingly placed it, folded, in her basket. Then I reached in and pulled out a pair of pants for one of my sons and thought to myself, “How I love this son, he is so thoughtful and generous, I am so glad he is mine. I just love watching him grow up!” Then I hugged that freshly laundered pair and lovingly placed it, folded, in his basket.
And on and on through six children…
Until I realized that maybe this is how Christ fights for me like a dragon. I really only seem to give him a pile of dirty laundry to do. But, when I am really trying to learn how to take care of all my “dirty socks”, he takes them from me, washes and dries them, and all the while says to himself, “How I love my Klea, even though she still gets dirty sometimes, I am so glad she is mine. I just love watching her grow up!” Then he hugs me, and with gratitude I ask him to lovingly place me where I will do the most good. And for today, he only asks that I try to be a true Dragon Mother and fight for his children, not against them.
I was born and raised in Alberta, Canada and California and promised every childhood friend I would never raise my family in Utah…until I fell in love with the most amazing fourth generation Orem boy. Now we are raising our kids in the house he grew up in and we love it. I am an estate planning attorney and marriage educator but I really want to be better at those half-baked talents like speaking Spanish, playing the piano, and making dinner every night! Read more about me at mormon.org
Oh dear Klea. Thank you for that. This post was for me.
You and me…God sent us together to help each other be dragon mothers!