April 4, 2011

What a weekend.

Ah, General Conference weekend.

For those of us of the LDS faith (aka Mormons) it is a time for us to gather around our televisions... or rather, laptop computer screen in our case, and listen to the guidance and counsel of the prophet and apostles. (it was down-right incredible too)

It is also a time for those of us with small children to stretch our imaginations and expand our creativity as we seek to find ways to keep our children calm and quiet during the eight hours of conference that stretch over Saturday and Sunday.


Let it be known here on public record, that our children made it almost a whole half hour before the poking, fighting, laughing, and playing took over any sense of tranquility we attempted.

A whole half hour!

Yes, at times such as this, one must boast of their accomplishments, bask in their achievements, and invite others to pat them on the back for a job well done.


As this is the new record in our house, I guess come October, we'll shoot for 45 minutes.

Of course, by then we'll have another little body to work with so.... on second thought, we'll shoot for maintaining our half hour record.

Of course, this half-hour record was just the beginning of the first two-hour session, on Saturday morning.

We just won't bring up all the other sessions, okay?

Eh hem... okay then.


At one point I even thought my children were actually listening.

"Mom? What does 'holy scwipture' mean?"


"Mommy? What does 'baptize' mean?"


"Mommy! She said 'pwimary'!"

But soon it all started to digress as the decided that they were just too funny for themselves to handle.

"Mommy? What does 'crayon' mean? Hahaha!"


"Mom, what does 'carpet' mean? Argh  har har!"


"Mommy? What does 'dirty sock' mean?" Pwah ha ha ha ha!! I said 'dirty sock'! Mwah ha ha ha!"


Even Alayna managed to squeeze in a joke or two.

"Eh diaper! *giggle* Diaper diaper! Hahaha!"

Ya... it was in that moment that I knew we had lost them.

Well, at least we tried.

13 super cool people speak:

F e l i c i t y said...

Haha! Oh, wow. Sounds like my house. I'm glad you got a least half an hour in of sweet serenity. ;) I had a date over for the Sunday sessions of Conference, and my little brothers and sister (even the older ones who are thought to be more, eh, mature) were absolutely monkeys! (or, as Elder Holland said, bedlamites, hehe). It was an adventure, but my date stayed for all four hours, so I guess they weren't too bad. :D

Love you, Serene! I hope you and your growing little one are doing well! :)

Tristan said...

Laughing about your weekend - it does get easier, or so I tell myself. Mine did great this time around mostly. We've gotten into the routine that they listen with us or there are quiet activities to do (playdoh is a good one!), or they can run and play part of the time upstairs. We had a first this weekend - Makayla took two pages of notes. My little girl is growing up!

We had the usual craziness too at various points. Daddy was on his own with the kids for Saturday conference because I was at a homeschool convention 3 hours away. I think the kids made it through 6 hours of the 8 possible, with the littler ones sitting for at least 4 hours doing quiet activities.

Practice practice practice is what I tell myself. We like to watch one speaker's video from the last conference every Sunday to give the kids practice... :)

Saimi said...

So telling you that I was able to sit on the couch with my note pad in hand eating snacks and enjoying the council in peace and quite might not be a good idea...HA

Hey then I remember, I already put in my time with busy active boys..It's all about me now baby!! Ha!!

Larsen said...

That's the point. Just try.

See you soon!

Susan Anderson said...

So funny, Serene. I loved this post!

=)

PS. And conference, too. Wasn't it great? =)

PPS. How about Elder Scott's beautiful words about his wife? So touching.

ldsjaneite said...

This was the best Conference I've ever experienced--and each session had its own unique experience to accompany it. I even got the kids' aspect as I watched Priesthood session on my laptop and the kids were scrambling around, getting breakfast, and trying to see what I was watching. More and more (especially after that) I see just why they print the messages in "The Ensign!"

Garvin Smith said...

At last! I'm in the first ten!
I haven't read the post yet, but I'e responded early!

Mama Smith said...

Hang in there baby...we did...and look how each of you turned out...OK...don't answer that! (smile)

I need to send you my files that I put together when some of you were little to do during conference...I think my stuff evolved over the years...Don't know if you got some of the things I put together when YOU were young...I know Hyrum did...

Welcome to the Garden of Egan said...

It looks like they were pretty good. I mean really, they were on the same blanket at the same time. I think that counts for Conference for the entire 4 sessions!

Kids, only THEY think that a dirty sock is funny!

Amy said...

Hahahaha!

Love it.
Just remember, consistency is everything. Yeah, this is coming from a lady with 0 living children.

Don't listen to me, I know nada. You're awesome! And your kids are hilarious. Thanks for the entertainment at your expense. :)

Cheeseboy said...

Our boys made it about 45 minutes. Granted, we don't make them watch on Saturday and there are only two of them. Then the scratching and bugging began. But you should be commended for such impressive effort.

TisforTonya said...

we made it through a lot more than usual this time... of course, that might have to do with the fact that I was painting the room and the fumes were making us all just a little woozy.

Pitterle Postings said...

They do grow and get better about it, I promise. My girls actually nearly sat still. The best thing we started doing was taking one talk at a time and doing a family home evening on just that talk. We can usually work through all of them before the next conference and it makes it more personal for the kids. At least you were able to laugh about it!!

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