Mom’s Message

We have a family home evening chart that rotates weekly. Everyone has an assignment, and we take turns giving the lesson, providing treats, planning an activity, offering the prayer, or doing other things. However, since there are 10 of us in our family, it can take a couple of months before Mom and Dad get a turn for the lesson. Sometimes the lessons from the children, especially the younger ones, have been a little shorter or more simple than others. As parents, we wanted more input, but we didn’t want anyone to feel like the lesson wasn’t good enough because we added something at the end. To address the problem, we created a new, nonrotated assignment called Mom’s Message.

Each week after the lesson, Dad asks Mom for her message, which might be a short thought or a longer discussion on something she learned in Relief Society. The lesson might highlight a conference talk or deal with a family need. Occasionally Mom chooses a subject that complements the lesson given by one of the children, especially if she helped the child prepare the evening’s lesson. Other Mom’s Messages have revolved around looking at baby books and photo albums or learning about gardens in preparation for spring planting.

Mom’s Message has been a real success at our house. The children enjoy it, and we get a chance for extra input in the instruction portion of our family home evening.—Jarolyn Ballard Stout, Hurricane Fourth Ward, Hurricane Utah Stake

Illustrated by Beth M. Whittaker