SPF 50

For Labor Day weekend we went with another family and took our boys to Tybee Island (our closest beach). Monday morning, after I slathered my kids with SPF 50 from head to toe, I had some sunscreen left over on my hands, so I rubbed it on my face. I covered my nose and ears really well and then smoothed the rest over my cheeks, forehead, chin. Then we got our stuff loaded in the cars and headed to the beach. We had a lovely time. Three hours of pretty perfect, not-too-hot-not-to-cool weather. The wind kicked up a little for a minute and we thought we might get rained on but then it passed and we went back to playing in the water and relaxing on the sand.

It wasn't until around hour 2.5 that I remembered I hadn't put on sunscreen anywhere else but my face. Oops. I figured I wouldn't burn too badly, though. We went in the morning, we were about to leave soon and the September sun didn't feel that hot.

Boy was I wrong. My husband (who didn't use any sunscreen) and I both had turned a very painful shade of fuchsia by the time we pulled into our driveway that night. But the SPF 50 had done its work for our sons. And for my face. My freckles weren't even any darker. So even though my back and shoulders are just now (four days later) starting to feel better, I was spared the agony of a pealing nose.

So...

I told you that story to tell you this one...

The past couple of weeks the hubby and I have finally started trying to get the little man to sit still for family scripture reading and prayers. Now, daily prayer and scripture study is a habit that I have always struggled to maintain. I'll finally get in a groove where I'm doing it every night and then I'll miss just one night, the habit is broken, and it'll be weeks or even months before I get my feet under me again.

But, with our son, it's different. I know it's only been a couple of weeks but I can just tell that this is a habit that I'm going to keep. Knowing that I'm responsible for another person's eternal progression is a strong motivator. And even though you would think that wrestling with a toddler would make the acts of reading a book without pictures and kneeling down to pray a lot more difficult, I've found that it's actually soooo much easier to remember to do it when it's part of his bedtime routine. So it's great. Because reading scriptures to him means I'm reading scriptures. And praying with him means I'm praying.

And I've discovered this beautiful thing about being a mother.

You can't give someone else something good without getting a little on yourself.