house of learning

i am always wondering if i am teaching claire enough. if i am doing things right. if she gets it. i had a little bit of clarity tonight though- i had been thinking about a comment my sis-in-law made about how she wants to keep her home like the temple. she does an amazing job with her bunch and i really look up to her for how well she does. i've been wondering lately if my home feels like a temple, if when someone walks in they feel good.

on our way home from our little date we had tonight i sighed to myself as i thought of the stack of dishes i had waiting. sweet. after getting home and getting claire in bed i sat down for a minute and put my feet up because they were swelling- and i looked around and thought "its been a really, really good day for us. one look around here and you can see that." towels hanging on chairs from swimming, dishes from a good home cooked meal, claire's alligator piano from when she was practicing playing and singing her abc's, books from reading, crayons and paper from coloring, blankets from snuggling, exercise ball from rolling around, lucky charms spilled on the floor with the marshmallows picked out.

and it dawned on me. i consider my house relatively clean. most of the time. definitely room for improvement, but cleanliness is not the only thing that makes a temple. when you just look at all the evidence that there was teaching and learning going on in my home today, i would consider it still temple-ish. scriptures were out from reading; pictures of Christ adorn the walls; an ensign or two are always lying around; books and puzzles everywhere; the flour bucket pulled up to the kitchen counter so claire could see what was going on. and then there were the teaching moments that are only memories now: singing claire's favorite songs; working through a tantrum when we needed to go home and struggling to get jammies on; working on keeping arms folded during a prayer; waiting for mom or dad to be in the pool before getting in....

after pondering my house of learning, i decided to leave the tv off, turn on some good tunes, and clean up the mess with a happy face, peace in my heart for the first time in a few days, and said a prayer of gratitude for such a wonderful day, an excellent husband, a joy of a child, and to know that even though i've got a loooooong ways to go we made some progress today. definitely sweet.