(thoughts I had on Mother's Day 2009)“I love you, Mother,” said little John;
Then, forgetting his work, his cap went on,
And he was off to the garden swing,
Leaving her the water and wood to bring.
“I love you, Mother,” said rosy Nell.
“I love you better than tongue can tell.”
Then she teased and pouted full half the day,
Till her mother rejoiced when she went to play.
“I love you, Mother,” said little Fan.
“Today I’ll help you all I can.
How glad I am that school doesn’t keep!”
So she rocked the babe till it fell asleep.
Then, stepping softly, she fetched the broom,
And swept the floor and tidied the room.
Busy and happy all day was she,
Helpful and happy as a child could be.
“I love you, Mother,” again they said,
Three little children going to bed.
How do you think that Mother guessed
Which of them really loved her best?
(Joy Allison, “Which Loved Best?”)
I have heard this poem many times throughout my childhood and even as an adult. I have been blessed with five children who are many times much like little Fan in the poem – children who were eager to give talks to declare their love for their mother when they heard their parents were to speak on Mother’s Day. They show their love for their mother daily through the service they render to her and to each other. And although none of us is perfect, I couldn’t ask for a greater group of children to befriend.
Eleven years ago when I had my first child, Kinson, I learned a lot of things I was unprepared for. I had been around children a lot growing up, but I certainly didn’t understand them. Most of them seemed pretty unruly, and I had little patience for them. As I cared for Kinson in his first moments of life, I loved him with a new, eternal perspective that I had never had before. He was my responsibility for eternity. He would depend on me to learn everything, from speaking coherently to sewing a button to talking to girls. I understood that he was a child of God and that in order for him to return to Heavenly Father, I must teach him righteous principles.
President David O. McKay’s wisdom in this concept is explained when he said:
“Motherhood is the greatest potential influence either for good or ill in human life. The mother’s image is the first that stamps itself on the unwritten page of the young child’s mind. It is her caress that first awakens a sense of security; her kiss, the first realization of affection; her sympathy and tenderness, the first assurance that there is love in the world. True, there comes a time when Father takes his place as exemplar and hero of the growing boy; and in the latter’s budding ambition to develop manly traits, he outwardly seems to turn from the more gentle and tender virtues engendered by his mother. Yet that ever-directing and restraining influence implanted during the first years of his childhood linger with him and permeate his thoughts and memory as distinctively as perfume clings to each particular flower.”
Gordon B. Hinckley also has something to say about a mother’s role:
“You have nothing in this world more precious than your children. When you grow old, when your hair turns white and your body grows weary, when you are prone to sit in a rocker and meditate on the things of your life, nothing will be so important as the question of how your children have turned out. It will not be the money you have made. It will not be the cars you have owned. It will not be the large house in which you live. The searing question that will cross your mind again and again will be, How well have my children done?
“If the answer is that they have done very well, then your happiness will be complete. If they have done less than well, then no other satisfaction can compensate for your loss.
“…God bless you, dear friends. Do not trade your birthright as a mother for some bauble of passing value. Let your first interest be in your home. The baby you hold in your arms will grow quickly as the sunrise and the sunset of the rushing days. I hope that when that occurs you will not be led to exclaim as did King Lear, “How sharper than a serpent’s tooth it is to have a thankless child!” (King Lear, I, iv, 312). Rather, I hope that you will have every reason to be proud concerning your children, to have love for them, to have faith in them, to see them grow in righteousness and virtue before the Lord, to see them become useful and productive members of society. If with all you have done there is an occasional failure, you can still say, “At least I did the very best of which I was capable. I tried as hard as I knew how. I let nothing stand in the way of my role as a mother.” Failures will be few under such circumstances.
“…May the blessings of heaven rest upon you, my dear sisters. May you not trade a present thing of transient value for the greater good of sons and daughters, boys and girls, young men and women for whose upbringing you have an inescapable responsibility.
“May the virtue of your children’s lives sanctify and hallow your old age. May you be led to exclaim with gratitude as did John, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 Jn. 1:4).
Each of our children and the spirit they bring into our homes is a blessing in our lives. They teach us so many truths that we could not have learned without them. They make being a mother a pleasure more often than not. Let us show greater love to our children and know that the Lord is available at all times to help us in raising them. I love my children very much and am grateful that the Lord has seen fit to bless Sam and me with the opportunity to be parents. Let us all recognize the blessings we receive through the children we serve.
