It’s General Confer…Elizabeth, be quiet!

I didn’t keep track of how many times I told Elizabeth to be quiet during the Saturday sessions, but it was at least every 10 minutes. So I decided to keep track of the action on Sunday morning, but I didn’t get the results I expected. It sounds more like I was doing everything but paying attention, but I really was! I even cried once or twice (or as Cliff says, I got some Spirit in my eye.) I’ve abbreviated Elizabeth and Catherine with E and C.

5:25 – C wakes up hungry. I take her downstairs so she won’t wake up E.
5:35 – So much for not waking E. She comes down and wants to watch Spongebob.
5:52 – C goes back to sleep. I want to be sleeping too so I put her in bed and go back to bed myself.
5:56 – E is calling for me downstairs. Cliff goes down to see what she wants. He is my hero and I go back to sleep.
8:03 – I wake up and shower.
8:50 – Conference is already starting? Oh yeah, the clock by the TV is 10 minutes slow.
9:00 – The opening prayer is long and my attention is already waning. Bad sign.
9:01 – The choir sings my second favorite song, “Oh, What Songs of the Heart.” I try to listen, but Elizabeth talks non-stop.
9:03 – I tell E to be quiet for the first time this session. I’m thinking it will be similar to yesterday.
9:04 – I tell E that she’s going to be sent to her room if she does not PLEASE BE QUIET!
9:15 – Elder Eyring mentions family home evening and I resolve to try it again in our family. (This feeling will last until E’s first tantrum of the day.)
9:17 – Elder Eyring’s talk about unity reminds me of the Wood Badge session on inclusiveness. Holy cow! Wood Badge is next weekend!
9:20 – C wakes up. I go up and bring her downstairs and then have this conversation: Cliff: “She was crying?” Me: “Yes.” “How did you hear her?” “I have Mom ears.”
9:22 – E comes downstairs (now I know why I had been able to hear so much of Elder Eyring’s talk!) She talks non-stop again for 10 minutes, then goes back upstairs.
9:32 – E is back down wearing her Sleeping Beauty dress. She announces that she is going to Sophie’s house and begins packing her bags.
9:33 – Elder Hales talks about responding to criticism in an unChrist-like way and I think of recent comments that I’ve read about the movie “Religulous.”
9:34 – Cliff has been making breakfast and gives me a plate of hash browns and French toast in bite size pieces so I can eat while feeding C. Thanks Honey!
9:37 – E comes downstairs with an armload of princesses.
9:39 – E comes downstairs with another armload of princesses.
9:40 – C poops loudly. I make sure none got on me.
9:41 – I look up at the next speaker to see who he is. He sounds like a professional voice-over guy. (It was Elder McMullin.)
9:43 – I compliment Cliff on his hash browns so he will make them again sometime.
9:45 – E is out of her dress. She grabs the cold pack out of the freezer to put on some minor boo-boo on her leg.
9:47 – Elder McMullin tells a story about a little girl run over by a bus. It makes me cringe because I automatically think about my little girls getting run over. Thanks for adding that to my list of worries, Elder!
9:50 – I use the rest song break to go upstairs for a diaper for C. Yes, I did wait ten minutes to change her. You’ve got to make sure they’re done, you know.
9:51 – The next speaker is the YW general president so I don’t have to listen right?
9:56 – The second reference to Lahonti. I wonder if either of the speaker thought they were safe mentioning him because he was so obscure, and then they were like, “Man, that guy stole my reference!”
9:58 – E distracted me and I missed a joke.
9:59 – I put C down to play on her jungle play mat.
10:00 – I lay down on the couch, confident in E’s ability to keep me awake. (On the other hand, Cliff proves later that he can sleep through anything, except his own snoring.)
10:05 – I notice that the MoTab ladies even have matching earrings. Do they have to match their wedding rings too?
10:06 – C is done playing in the jungle, so I move her to the Bumbo seat (if you don’t know what that is, see the picture.)
10:12 – E and C are so cute in their seats so I get Cliff to take a picture of them. He gets me in the shot too.


10:25 – C is done playing in her seat
10:28 – President Monson says something about our “non-existent future when you will have time to do all you want to do.” I laugh, but I’m a bit disappointed. I was looking forward to that future!
10:31 – President Monson is talking about spending time with your family and not worrying about how messy your house is. At least that’s how I interpret it.
10:35 – President Monson makes me laugh again when he says that the sisters will be acquainted with “Our Town.” That’s Monson: 2, other GA’s: 0.
10:39 – Did he just say “University of Awesome?” I couldn’t hear properly over E’s constant babbling.
10:41 – Cliff and E are playing with the princesses and distracting me (not hard) and C (really hard.)
10:41 – E yells at Cliff, “Keep your leg to yourself!” For some reason, this is hilarious.
10:46 – Cliff names the princesses “Schleppy Homoho” and “Cynthia Norris.” After hearing the former, the latter sounds weirdly normal.
10:49 – Cliff uses the princesses to teach E a lesson about yelling. It’s simple and effective and I am impressed by his parenting skills.
10:50 – Conference is over 10 minutes early? Oh yeah, the clock by the TV is 10 minutes slow.