American Mothers, Inc.

By: Paige Pagley

Over break, my daughter, Brenna, went to a neighbor’s house to be a mother's helper. Afterwards she came home with $5.00 and a whole new perspective on the New Year that was about to arrive! You see, she went down to help this mother so that she could get things cleaned up and put in its proper place for the New Year. Every project this family was working on had to be completed, everything tidy and neat so that there was a fresh start for everything in the New Year. Now, having never heard this or known anyone superstitious enough to follow through on it, it was a very interesting thought and one that has continued to be on my mind.

I did nothing after Christmas! I didn't want to do anything after Christmas. Wait...that's not true. So many times going into Christmas break, I wanted to clean out my "27 Dresses" closet and thought I would clean it, but when it came time to do it, I put my foot down and just didn't do it! Tobin and Noah had basketball tourneys which took up several hours each day the week after Christmas. So, I went to those games and then I really have no idea what I did! I know it's not good to waste time and I get really upset when my kids squander the day away playing with electronic things, but that is just what I did. How bad is that? Why did I do that?

I organized a play date for Brenna and ended up with 5 little girls playing at our house. When I asked one of the Brenna’s friends what she wanted to do, she replied without hesitation, "I want to fly afire-breathing dragon up to the moon and then parachute back down." Now how's that for perspective?

One day I was going to take Brenna to a movie at 2:30pm, but when 2:30 came, I just couldn't do it...I was soooo tired. I asked Brenna if we could go to the 4:50 one and she pouted. So, Andy took her to the 2:30 movie and I slept the entire time on my couch! I NEVER sleep on my couch! And I enjoyed the laziness of it.

And on Sunday, the second to last day of my Christmas break, I realized that it had been much more of a winter's break where I hibernated like a grizzly bear rather than a Christmas break, where the gift giving and extended family time had been incredibly short. However, Sunday was kind of a turnaround day. I loved being at church and I haven't really felt like that in a long time. I was happy to be sitting in Sunday school and happy to have the chance to speak with one of our ecclesiastical leaders after that. I was exactly where I wanted to be.

So, while I really bummed around for my whole break, Sunday renewed my spirit and my happiness at being me again. So, I would say I got exactly what I wanted for New Years-a renewed spirit. I’m recharged for 2012, ready to face my responsibilities of family, work and self. I hope everyone has a happy and prosperous New Year.