This is Life.

I've washed and dried 7 loads of laundry. Almost all of it has been folded and put away. Yay me?
Unfortunately, I still have about 4 loads to go. And by the time I get those 4 finished, I'm sure the rest of the house will be a complete wreck, as well as enough clothes and towels dirtied to make at least one more load of laundry.

Sigh.

Melinda and I had an interesting conversation this evening. She got out of her bath, and was getting pajamas on and brushing her wet hair while I was folding some laundry. She started saying something about seeing me get married, and I had to embark on this whole explanation about how she couldn't have been there to see me get married, since she wasn't born until three and a half years later. Of course, I conceded, it might be possible that she watched me from Heaven. "Did you watch me from Heaven, Melinda?" She screwed her face up thoughtfully, and informed me that she definitely did. Because she remembers that the bride's hair looked like my hair.

Oddly enough, this little conversation got me thinking about the idea within our religion (which is, I'm sure, not doctrine), that when we lived with Heavenly Father before we were born, sometimes we got to choose who our parents would be. Or maybe that some children were destined to be born to certain families. I'm not sure what I think about that idea, honestly, since what would that say about all the children who are poor and dying around the world? Did they not get a choice, or did they choose poorly, or what? But anyway, it's something that's been said. And I don't put a lot of stock in it. All the same, it got me wondering what, exactly, a child of mine - Melinda specifically - would have seen in me that would make them choose me for a mother. (Oh heavens, don't let me get started on that too-hard-on-myself thing again! Hopefully this will just be motivation to be better... to be the something that she could have potentially seen in me.)

We also talked about marriage in general. She was sad that she didn't get to go to my wedding, so I told her I would go to her wedding someday. "But who would I get married with, Mommy?" She asked with such a frantic concern in her voice. I explained to her that she would fall in love with some boy someday, and marry him. She was silent and thoughtful for just a few split seconds, before she worriedly said, "But I don't think I love Jacob to marry him...." I nearly burst out laughing! Of course I had to explain we don't marry our brothers. And then we had to talk about kissing brothers vs. kissing other people, and what the difference are between "in-love" kisses and family kisses And why we shouldn't just kiss people whenever we feel like it, that kisses are special, and so on. Which prompted the question, "Is it okay to kiss your brother a lot when he gets hurt?"

Honestly, I was a little surprised at some of our conversation. Seemed like it was coming a little soon. But, I guess a conversation about marriage will do that, huh?

Jacob said a few funny things today, too. But I've forgotten them already. Except for the most recent, when he was hopping up and down on my bed energetically, while I was folding yet more laundry. "I'm happy today, Mommy!!" I smiled and told him that I could tell. And then Alex, who had spent the last hour cranky and tired, joined us on top of my bed, and started bouncing, too. Sitting on his bottom, rocking up and down, pumping his arms along with him. Jacob, in the middle of bouncing, laughed his funny staccato-styled "forced" laugh, and exclaimed, "Look! Alex is happy today, too!!" Apparently, being happy for a few seconds is all it takes to be happy all day long. Oh, the lessons we learn from 3-year-olds!

Oh, another Melinda story, before I forget. This one is from yesterday.
After Primary classes on Sunday, Jesse brought Melinda to me so I could take her and find a seat for Sacrament Meeting while he took Jacob to the potty. I look down at her, and she is one giant mess of tears. She seems just terrible - like she had seriously hurt herself, and hadn't recovered by the time Jesse brought her to me. I had seen her, looking perfectly fine, not 5 minutes before, so I was really confused. Things were crowded, and she was breaking down, but I managed to drag her to a seat and sit her down so I could talk to (and hear) her. It took me a minute to get her to say, clearly, at least, what was wrong with her.
And she said it with a truly massive, heartbreaking wail: "My teacher is getting married and this is her last week at church!!!!!" More tears erupted and streamed down her already beet-red, splotchy face.

Oh. Oh, dear. I don't know how to make her feel better about that one. I finally got the whole story, and her teacher is indeed getting married, and she will be attending the Spanish-speaking branch of church with her soon-to-be-husband after they are married. She'll still have one other teacher that she absolutely loves, so I was quite taken by surprise by the sheer magnitude of her distress at this news. She's had other friends move away before. One "best" friend, even. I was not at all prepared for her being so upset about a teacher from church. I finally got her to stop crying with the idea that we could make a card and some treats to take to her teacher, and say goodbye and thank you while dropping them off. Of course, I need to call her and see if there's even any time she's not incredibly busy preparing for a wedding. I better get to that first thing tomorrow, huh? But Melinda really was comforted by that idea. I hope we can manage to do it.