Children's Voices

I'm a writer.  I'm a runner.  I'm a worker.  I'm a friend, a wife, a sister.  But, for me, today, the most important role I play is that of a mother.

I love enjoying the variety in my seven children.  I like noticing where they look and seem alike--and different.  I loved giving them names.  I loved caring for their tiny little bodies.  I loved kissing their necks and talking baby-talk with them.

I enjoy each one for who he or she is.  Each one is creative, smart, and amazing in her/his own ways.  Each one has taught me cherished life lessons.  Each one has brought into our home a unique and fun perspective.  I've loved getting to know each one of them, seeing what they think, seeing how they think, what they'll say.

Here are some of my favorite things that my children have said:

"Goodness is funness!"

"Mom!  Come and see what [child] put in the toilet!"

"Where are you going to plant that Vaudis (confusing my Aunt Vaudis' name with another of my aunts--Fern)?"

"I love you too Mom-MY!"

"Coom!"

"These carrots look ferocious yucky!"

"Be noimal!"

"Something in here smells like a spice, or maybe a verb."

"Gravity holds the planets in orbit forever."

(Tiny girl answering what is her favorite color:) "I like gold!"

"Mommy!"

"Do you think those were real clowns, or just people dressed up?"

"Let me show you what a blue one tastes like.  You have to smash it first."

"You can heal without the priesthood."

"Purple is green, but purple is not green, it's just purple."

"It's too tasty!" (Her dinner.)

"It's too fappy!" (Her coat.)

(Praying): "Thank you we will be safe."

"I have gallons of clothes!"

Indicating a boulder across the street: "That's [big brother's] wock and my wock!"

"Mama, how did you find me?"

"I love it, I love it, I do!" (about dinner, then when asked if he knows what the main dish is called: "Bread and butter."

In the rocking chair at bedtime: "This is where we belong."

"Mommy!"

"Sing the pizza song!"

At my aunt's viewing: "Who's the guy in the bed?"

"Help me to be a man with a dog."

"What about applesauce?"

"Cottage cheese is the king of cheeses.  But it's not the king of us.  Jesus is the king of us."

"No fourteen!" (Grumpy toddler being awakened to his brother's fourteenth birthday.)

"My life (cereal) is all dust!"

"It's when they kill people!" (Response from a 4-year-old when asked by a missionary what sacrifice means.)

Lying back in the tub to wet his hair: "All my troubles seem so far away!"

"Can I read you a story?"

(After a brother said he hates church): "We HAVE to learn the gospel!"

"You're the best mom I ever had."

"Can you ever begive me?"

"Mommy!  Mommy!  Mommy!"

To everyone who enjoys a child, happy Mother's Day!