Monday, October 24, 2011

Motherhood Chapter 23: Do vs. Be

Last night as I was getting ready for bed I was dreading another day of a million mundane tasks. Then as I thought through my "to do list" I realized that I might be better off to make a "to BE" list. As I thought through how my "Dos" should and could become "Bes" my perspective changed and I didn't find my list of things to do so mundane after all. Here is my "do list" with its corresponding "be list" following it.

My To Do List for Tomorrow:
1-Wake up the kids
2-Make smoothies for breakfast
3-Read Scriptures to the kids
4-Make lunches
5-Drive everyone to school
6-Exercise with them at Milers Club
7-Go Grocery shopping
8-Make soup for Lesli's baby shower and dinner tonight
9-Prepare ingredients for salad for shower
10-Package and hide truffles for shower so kids don't eat them :)
11-Feed the boys
12-Put the boys down for naps
13-Shower
14-Look into learning Japanese
15-Look for shirts for family photos
16-Buy Bread bowls for soup at Bread and Butter
17-Do homework with the kids
18-Get Halloween costumes together
19-Do Lauren's hair in curlers for picture day
20-Pick out picture day outfit with Lauren
21-Take a photo that marks my day
22-Blog
23-Read my Scriptures
24-Pray (morning and evening/alone and with family)
25-Go to sleep

My Be List for Tomorrow:
1-Be the sunshine that wakes my kids up on the "right" side of the bed
2-Be healthy
3-Be obedient to the counsel of the prophets
4-Be a servant of the Lord by serving others
5-Be cheerful and positive
6-Be an example of happiness by doing those things I must to be happy myself
7-Be a wise steward of our money
8-Be a multi-tasker
9-Be prepared
10-Be sneakily smart
11-Be nurturing
12-Be structured
13-Be clean
14-Be a life long learner
15-Be creative
16-Be supportive
17-Be helpful
18-Be fun and festive
19-Be loving
20-Be patient
21-Be present
22-Be thoughtful
23-Be nourished by the Good Word
24-Be in touch with Spirit of the Lord
25-Be wise

I wrote this all up last night and today it has made a world of difference in my attitude. I really focused to BE the kind of mother I wanted to be with each task. You will note that each task is paired with a specific "be" that I knew would help me "do" the task better and "be" more the mother I want to be.

I think I will do "be lists" more often and make them right along side my "do lists."
Here is my photo for the day:
Lauren and Harrison

9 comments:

Brittany said...

That is a really good idea. I love my girls and husband, but there are some times that I get so tired of the tediousness of it all...so I will have to do this.

Chelsea said...

i love this. after all, the lord judges us by the intents of our heart and our intents lead to our actions. not only that, it helps bring purpose and focus to the seemingly mundane. great!

a tip on learning japanese--i would recommend checking out audio lessons from the library and listening to them in your car or on your ipod while you clean or cook or fold laundry, etc. and don't feel weird about practicing out loud with the lessons. you'll also need to get a workbook to learn the different kana systems and how to write. do yourself a favor and skip relying on romaji. you'll do better learning hiragana and katakana from the beginning. gambatte ne!

Melanie said...

You are an amazing person. :)

Julie Rutherford said...

I could make my to do list - be more like Stephanie!! Thanks for the uplifting post.

Melissa-Mc said...

It reminds me of Elder Robbins' talk in the April 2011 Conference

jo said...

Thanks for reminded me of this principle. I loved the last conference talk about being rather than doing. It really spoke to me as a mother. thanks for this uplifting post.
Jo (uk) x
http://lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/what-manner-of-men-and-women-ought-ye-to-be?lang=eng

Unknown said...

I needed to read this. Thanks.

I feel like I am way overwhelmed with "to do's" that I forget the small and simple things!

Diana Lesjak said...

Love this Stephanie~ and I love the picture too!

Anonymous said...

We are all so different - if I made a list like this I would be crippled by it. I have lots of areas that need improvement but I can only think of a couple at a time. I'm more inspired when I think about how God loves me just the way I am. More power to you for your determination and focus!