I had a mom moment that I did not handle very well.

You would think that after raising 5 eleven year olds, I would have things mastered by the time the 6th eleven year old came along -- WRONG! It only goes to show that each child is different and the circumstances just keeps me humbled and repenting all over again.

There is a standing curse in our family. Whenever mom mops the floor, someone is bound to spill something. Usually when the spill comes we laugh and tease that person that they had the curse and then we quickly clean it up and nobody has hurt feelings.

Well Monday I cleaned and "steamed" the floor with my new toy - a shark floor steamer. I love it and my floor looked so good. I guess steaming the floor wasn't the same workout as mopping so I forgot about the Foote family curse.

Allan decided he needed something from the top shelf in the pantry. Upon his climbing the shelves, he knocked over two jars of spaghetti sauce which splattered everywhere. I mean everywhere - from the floor to the ceiling!

I was busy in the kitchen getting cookies out of the oven wanting them to be perfect because the Sister Missionaries were coming for dinner. Allan is standing in the doorway of the pantry and very calmly says something to the effect, "hey mom, there is picante sauce spilling all over the floor." I looked at him and then the pantry and I gave way to my first impulse and yelled.

I got Allan a bucket to help clean and he would walk in the sauce and then walk across the kitchen floor making things worse. Then I gave him a box and told him to throw it away but to be careful and put the "sauce"end of the box down in the trash so that the sauce wouldn't smear more. He took it and turned it upside down and plop, plop more blobs of sauce spilled across the floor as he walked.

I wish I had instant rewind and could change my reaction. I told Allan at one point that he just didn't have any brains. That was a big mistake! Allan was mad now and not appreciative of me at all. Many thoughts ran through my mind during my seizure and I did remember to pray for help and I was able to get control of my emotions and we finally got through the clean up.

I remembered that he is only eleven and he handles disasters in a much different way than any of my other kids. I remembered Jared telling me once, "Mom if you were to look in the mirror right now, you would not like what you see." or the time he informed me that when I'm mad I spit.

I also remembered that the examples of parents rub off and so I must be even more patient as my kids scream and shout over their own frustrations.

I was able to apologize to Allan and tell him how sorry I was for my reaction and that I would try to do better. He listened and didn't seem to be too upset with me.

We got the pantry cleaned and the Lord decided I needed to be tried one more time. I had to deal with a child not doing their class assignments thus resulting in a failing grade for the class. 6 assignments not done. The response from this child was, "I just didn't do them". The child was sent to their room to do the assignments. I was taking a quick breath trying to decide the best way to handle this. I did not want a repeat of me going into a crazy mom frenzy.

To my delight, it was Allan who approached me to council me. "Mom," he said, "it does no good to yell and get mad. That only makes things worse. Just talk calmly and you will do better." Another child spoke up and informed me that letting them know how disappointed I was would make more of an impact than yelling.

I smiled and gave a quick thanks to Heavenly Father for wise children. It really takes a family to raise a family sometimes.

My kids know I'm not perfect. And we've had a good family council and discussed that when mom looses it like she did, not for them to be afraid but to understand that she is just getting her "steam" out and then all will be well. Ü I have learned that I still need lots of patience. It is a lifetime work in progress. I am very thankful for repentance!!!!!