Slides

Remember Sabrina crying because she didn't want to go down the slide? Remember? I bribed her with candy to go down? (By the way, Marilyn says it's a reward if it's for them, a bribe if it's for you. So, this was a reward. A bribe would be candy for being quiet in Sacrament meeting. I've never done that. Ever.) Anyway, at Spencer's soccer game today, Sabrina wandered over to the playground and went down the slide. Repeatedly. Over and over. Perverse child.

She then went to the top of the big slide and looked down it, then went away. About five minutes later she came back and went down. It was a little fast for her, so she ended up sitting on the ground looking a little startled, but then Zane and I, who she did not know was watching, started cheering and clapping loudly. Once she realized she was so fabulous, she started jumping up and down and clapping and smiling and laughing. Adorable child.

Sleeeeeep

Sasha has been waking up screaming for an hour lately, when he's not sleeping through the night. That's our two options: sleep through the night or scream for an hour. Last night he slept all night!

BUT: the dreaded door creak happened at 2:00. Suddenly, without my being aware of it, Sabrina was snuggled next to me. This is so dang cute in theory and so dang tiring in reality that it's always hard to solve. So, for about a half hour I did nothing except enjoy her little self. Then the squished-ness, wiggling, and turning overwhelmed the cuteness of it, so I took her back to bed, where she demanded a song, got a few whispered stanzas, and went to sleep.

Likening the Scriptures

Let's say, in 1977, you disagreed with the Priesthood ban. You thought Blacks should be ordained to the Priesthood. Were you right or wrong? As I see it, from the perspective of 2011, there are three options:

1. You are right, because the Priesthood ban was "the wisdom of man," specifically racist man of the 19th century.
2. You are right, because God Himself said so a year later.
3. You are wrong because the time isn't right yet, and God will do all things in his time, not yours. This means you'd be wrong to believe in the Priesthood ban after 1978.

I'm not going to judge between these answers, because I think good, believing Mormons can go with any of these three. I think it would be pretty harsh, though, to just say "You're wrong," since President Kimball himself was not all that jazzed about the ban.

Okay. So, if you disagree with the Priesthood ban in 1977, what are your options? You can:
1. leave the church.
2. bury your feelings and live with the cognitive dissonance.
3. speak loudly and often about how wrong the church is.
4. pray. You can pray to understand the ban, or for God and His leaders to change it. Or both.

I think for most Mormons, the obvious "right" answer is #4. You pray. That's what President Kimball did, too. He prayed a lot for God to change the ban. And his prayers were answered pretty definitively in 1978, when the ban was rescinded and all worthy males were allowed to hold the Priesthood. I think it's important, though, that there were many Saints praying for the end of the ban, not just the Prophet.

Here's the "likening" part. If you don't like that women don't pray in General Conference, or *gasp* don't have the Priesthood, or some other thing in the church, you may be wrong. I think God will let you know. Or, our descendants or future selves may go back to my first three points at the beginning of this post. Maybe we're only wrong from our time-bound perspective, one which God does not share, or maybe we're right. So, whatcha gonna do? Leave the church? Speak up loudly and apostately? Speak up quietly and lovingly? Pray? Honestly, I don't think anything is going to change until we, as a church, are ready. So, if you think something needs to change, go back to the Primary answers. Pray, and see what God tells you.

Being Prepared

Mom used to work with a woman named Kitty. Kitty was always prepared. Going to see Haley's comet? She had hot chocolate. A softball game in June? She had a blanket in the car. I always wanted to be like Kitty. But I am not.

Sabrina, Sasha, and I went to the park on Tuesday. It was a beautiful day, and we'd only be gone an hour. They had coats and blankets, but I didn't want to take the diaper bag, because we were walking (or riding in a stroller, depending on our ages and ability to walk) and it's a pain to take everything. You know where this is headed, don't you?

Blowout. Back, legs. Practically as soon as we got there. I know Kitty, and I'm no Kitty.

We had fun anyway. Sabrina was terrified of the swings (even though she liked them a year ago, that's a third of her life ago) and of the slide. But I told her she could have candy if she went down the slide alone, so she did. Anything for sugar! Sasha liked the swing, though.

Cool Kids

I was thinking about "the cool kids" the other day. All right, it was while talking to Karen. I think it's hard to be a teenager, and everyone has it rough. But in my experience as a teacher (and therefore with a better perspective from when I was a teenager myself), cool kids aren't quite as self-assured as the non-cool kids think. They have more drama, get into drugs and sex more quickly than their regular-kid counterparts, and cry more in the counselor's office.

Naturally, I'm not saying all cool kids are druggies. It's just that teenagers tend to look up to, admire, and want to be liked by the popular kids, but everyone has problems, and very few teens are comfortable with themselves. Even the cool ones. I wish everyone could know that when they're wishing they could be different from what they are.

Apparently I'm feeling philosophical. Enjoy.

7 months!

Sasha is 7 months old. I think I had Sabrina a lot longer when she was 7 months than I've had Sasha. Regardless, he is extremely advanced. He can now crawl, although not very quickly. Pretty soon he's going to be unstoppable! He also claps, in a sort of one-handed way, and can feed himself baby cereal bits.

With Sabrina, I was so excited to give her "real" food. That was before I realized how messy and inconvenient it was. When she was only 5 months I was already eagerly spooning rice cereal down her somewhat unwilling throat. Sasha, though, has been ready for food since 5 months, but I've only recently summoned the courage and energy to do it. He really, really is happier with food though. He will happily sit for 20 minutes eating his baby candy while I eat my food and feed Sabrina, because she likes to be a "baby" and have me feed her. She's even shown interest in, how do I put this, eating like Sasha. If you get my meaning.

In a few minutes Sasha will wake up from his nap, and doubtless amaze the world with his continued progress. Meanwhile, I will try to get Sabrina to stop regressing and feed herself. The life of a mom.

Things I don't have a testimony about

Here is what I don't have a testimony about.

Women are more spiritual than men.
Women are better nurturers than men.
Men are better leaders than women.
Men are worse than women and should be castigated in GC.
Women are better than women and should only be praised and put on a pedestal in GC.
Not wanting to be bishop is a good reason for women to not have the priesthood or be in real leadership positions. (Anyone who wants to be bishop is a psycho and probably wouldn't be a good one, for one thing.)
Women should not pray in General Conference.
Women should not be in the Sunday School Presidency on any level.
Women should not be the finance clerk for the ward.
Bishops should be able to override a Relief Society President's choice for counselors. (YW and YM Presidents'? SS President's? SUre. RS President, HP Group Leader, EQ? no. Make suggestions or discuss? Yes.)

These things that I lack a testimony of have no bearing on my testimony of the GOSPEL. And I don't think they should. I'm just so sick of some of the cultural...stuff...in the church.