A moment of motherhood perfection

Once in awhile, amid the complaining, fighting and screaming, I have a moment that makes me suspect I'm not totally ruining my children. It seems that all those family home evenings about loving our brothers (and sister) and doing nice things for them, and sticking up for them when someone is being mean might have sunk in. Perhaps Will was actually listening to General Conference when President Monson talked about true Christian service - you know, the 'warm fuzzies talk'?? Anyhow, the other day William did this for Matt.


Sometimes I forget that my other children are participants in this whole cancer experience, as well as Matt. They are acutely aware of Matt's medical routine. Will knew exactly what medications to set out for Matthew, where they were kept, that he ordinarily takes his evening medications with milk, and that he needed a shot. This is one of the reasons we have decided to allow Matthew to take a trip through the 'Make a Wish' foundation. It promises to be a spectacular experience. We are looking forward to a whole week where we will all have a fabulous time, and hopefully, our 8 and 6 and 2 year olds will forget for a moment that they have a big brother with cancer. Of course Matt is the 'wish child' and he had the experience of choosing his wish and will be the spotlight of the week BUT I feel like our other children deserve the trip as well. Matt's siblings deal with many unanswered questions. And they are totally and completely patient as they deal with Matt's repeated hospitalizations and almost weekly day-long doctor visits two hours away. They remain cheerful and are wonderful for Matthew. They keep his life as normal as possible, and I think they understand their important role better than I give them credit for!