My New Jersey Sisters

Tonight I was once again reminded of my testimony of visiting teaching.

Yesterday was one of those days. Little Richie woke up several times in the night and I was really tired all day, and when I am tired I turn into "Mean Mommy". Everything he did got on my nerves and I scolded him all day long even when he didn't deserve it. Richie went into the city to do a session at the temple and then see a show, so I was alone with the kids and they were actually really well-behaved, but I was not.

By the end of the day I was feeling really drained and frustrated. When I was trying to put Richie down for bed, Sophia decided to have one of her "episodes" where she is so tired that she screams and screams. All she needs is to go to sleep, but she is so worked up that she won't go to sleep. It wouldn't have been so bad except that I needed to focus on Richie, but she demanded all my attention too. At one point both of them were crying; Richie in his room, Sophia in my room, and I was in the bathroom praying for patience. I love my kids more than anything, but I really needed a break.

Well, tonight my partner, Kristin, and I had set up an appointment in the evening so we could visit without our kids. The three of us are good friends, we call ourselves the Chrisses, because our names are Chrislynn, Christie and Kristin. Sophia's middle name was inspired by my friendship with these sisters. Anyway, Christie had a baby three weeks ago and has been feeling a bit overwhelmed with having a toddler and a newborn (sound familiar) so we wanted to have a good visit where we could talk and not have to chase our kids around at the same time. We made the appointment earlier in the week, but it was exactly what I needed, right when I needed it. The visit was only a little longer than an hour, but it was so nice to talk with my friends about motherhood and the gospel for that time. We could have stayed together for hours and hours, but we had to get back to our families. We have such a good time together that it was hard to leave. Finally Christie's husband had to practically kick us out, not because he didn't want us there, but we kept saying "we need to go" and he recognized we were never going to break-it-up without a little push. I am so grateful that Kristin is my partner and that we visit Christie. They have become two very dear friends and it is because of visiting teaching.

This picture was taken at P. F. Chang's last summer when we had a girl's night out. Kristin is in the middle and Christie on the right.

By the way, Christie LOVED the receiving blanket you made, Mom. She loved the colors and she loved that it was hand made, so thanks for offering that to her. Kristin was also very impressed and wants to see more of your handy work, so you need to post some pictures of quilts and blankets you have made or are making so I can direct her to your blog.