What I Gained From Ladies' Night at Church

This Wednesday night was Relief Society night. For those of you who aren't Mormon, that basically means that the women of the congregation come together for a monthly night out. The night is usually filled with lessons and ideas on self-improvement, spiritual growth, chocolate, fun craft ideas, etc. This month, it was mostly about spiritual growth and stress management. I was really glad I went.

One of the instructors was Liam's Sunday nursery leader. I really like her because she's so down to earth and calm with him. Nothing he does seems to ever set her off. She also seems to enjoy being with him in a genuine way. It's not like he's a job to her, but something she looks forward to doing.

The other instructor was Tracey G. She lives down the street from us and her daughters are two of our babysitters. One of them works with Liam twice a week on keeping his hearing aids in. She spoke on stress management and offered four remedies. They were scriptures, service, excercise, and laughter.

Yesterday, I decided to take the challenge and see what came of it. I feel like I manage stress well, but am always willing to try to come up with even more. It started with trading Facebook for scriptures. I am a multi-tasker so I decided to turn on the computer and listen to scriptures while I made the beds. I had Liam play in his crib while I was doing what I needed to do. In my mind, this was accomplishing the scripture part. As I was working, I got so into listening that I didn't check on Liam right away. Before long, I started to smell a very familiar odor. POOP.

I walked into Liam's room and there he was proudly playing with his poop. What the heck is it with my kids and poop? Seriously. We have crayons, play-dough, coloring books, water colors, and markers. What makes these little people think they need to do their art with freaking POOP!?!?!? Further, how are they all such little Houdinis?? Liam was wearing a onesie and an outfit over that when he managed to completely remove his diaper. Seriously?!!? I'm considering taking out stock in duct tape. Rumor has it I can now buy duct tape in fabulous colors and patterns.

The next thing I did was accomplish the service recommendation. I lovingly pulled him from his poop-filled crib and put him into the tub. I didn't even think bad words about the situation. That's service with a smile right there. I scrubbed him down really good, emptied the tub, cleaned it out, refilled it, put some toys in, and let him play in the tub with Rachel and Drezden while I scrubbed out his bed, changed the sheets, and deodorized the whole upstairs. Who knew such a little person could make poop that could be spread so far???

From there, I accomplished the excercise recommendation. I went up and down those stairs more times than I care to count. And I was lifting "weights". Okay, so it was just laundry baskets full of poopy bedding and clothes, but it weighed a lot.

Lastly, the laughter. Really, look at the situation. I've had five kids. This is the third one to find a creative means in his poop. It's hilarious really. Some parents proudly display their children's works of art. Instead, I get to scrub my kids' art...and then disinfect the house. That's funny, right? I guess I'm just glad they're not into the culinary arts. Just imagine the poopsicles we could be dining on. Yikes!

I did make sure I called Tracey to let her know the many effects I gained from her workshop. If nothing else, she got a little laughter from it.