Life With Fingerprints

I have kind of slacked so far this year on picking a word or a theme for myself for 2013.  I wasn't really inspired by anything- that is until this past weekend.  One of the speakers in General Conference said something that really rang true for me.  It was Elder Enrique R. Falabella who said, "A child who sings is a happy child."  When he said that, it also made me remember a quote by Pres. Monson, "Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future...If you are still in the process of raising children be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will disappear all too soon, and that you will, to your surprise, miss them, profoundly."  For me the correlation between these two quotes is simple.  Sometimes my child sings and I am oblivious and maybe even a little annoyed.  Life can get chaotic with six people in the mix and sometimes all I want is a little peace and quiet. Same goes for fingerprints.  When I see smudges on the newly windexed sliding glass door, little black finger smudges on the wall going upstairs, a dirty ipod or computer screen that I can barely read, or little chalk footprints on the newly cleaned floor, I tend to think more of the time and effort that I will need to put forth to clean them up than really what they mean.  Just like my child singing a song can show me that they are happy with life, these little fingerprints can mean more than a mess that needs to be cleaned up.  The smudges on the glass door are because Cole has recently discovered his reflection and loves to give himself kisses.  The black finger smudges on the wall going upstairs are from Drew who sharpens his pencils multiple times a day and gets subsequent lead all over his hands which he then drags on the wall as he walks upstairs.  The dirty ipod screen comes from Brinlee who can navigate netflix or an app much quicker than me though she tends to pick her nose in between finger swipes thus leaving me with a less than clear screen.  The little chalk footprints on the floor come from kids who spend hours outside writing me messages or drawing me pictures and then accidentally walk through their creations as they come inside for a drink.  So my goal or theme for this year is to understand that life has fingerprints.  Now I am not giving myself permission to leave every fingerprint made as a reminder of what is going on right now in our life, but more the permission to not immediately get upset with the kids for the mess they have made and then drop whatever I am doing to clean it up.  I want my kids to be happy and enjoy life.  I want them to sing, to draw, to create, to learn, to play, and I don't want to miss out on doing those things with them because I am more preoccupied with the end result.  The truth is, with small children things rarely stay clean for very long despite my best efforts.  So I will try to see the good in the fingerprints- see the memories that are being made and the growth that is occurring right before my eyes. Because like Pres. Monson said, "...they will disappear all too soon, and you will to your surprise miss them profoundly."