Amnesia

On Saturday we took a quick trip to the mall to return a few items and purchase a few necessities. Lately, Hank has become a very unhappy shopper. He refuses to be carried, he throws a fit in his stroller, and he is adamant about not holding hands. Reasoning with him is not an option. I pointed out to Hank that all the other small children were holding their mommies' hands but to no avail. He wants nothing but unfettered freedom to cruise the mall solo. Obviously this poses a dilemma as we cannot allow him to run loose in a crowded mall and he can't abide by any form of restrictions on his freedom. The result was that we enjoyed a not-so-pleasant experience making a total spectical of ourselves--literally dragging Hank kicking and screaming around the entire mall. As we finally finished our shopping and headed home from the draining excursion, I vowed to myself never to take Hank shopping again. I turn on the radio to try to decompress my strained nerves. Looking over my shoulder I see Hank bobbing his head in tune to the music. Aaron's heart melts like a popcicle on a hot summer day. Not three minutes earlier we were tag-team wrestling with Hank to get him to cooperate, and suddenly I hear Aaron muttering something about Hank being "the joy of our lives." ??? I asked Aaron if he has blocked the traumatic mall episode from his memory and he replied that if people didn't have short memories they would never have kids. Isn't that the truth? I guess Elder Ballard got it right in his talk this conference when he said that the joy of motherhood comes in moments.