The Joy of Having Children

I have two beautiful daughters and one handsome young baby boy. They are between the ages of 5 and 3 months. They have changed the lives of my wife and mine in many ways. They have made us better people and helped us to put the important things first in life. I wanted to share five important things that my children have taught me in the short five years that they have been in our lives.

1. Unconditional Love. You haven’t experienced true love until you hold a fresh from heaven baby boy or girl in your arms for the very first time. You watch this newborn child grow and grow over the years into their own little person. They will drive you crazy and make mistakes, but your love will never change; it is unconditional. My own daughters make my heart melt when they say they love me or give me a hug. Each night I sit my baby boy on our bed and look at him and he smiles back and makes little noises and I know that he loves me as much as I love him.

2. Pay more attention to the simple things. Something my daughters have taught me is to take more time to notice the simple or seemingly small things in life. They love to smell the roses in our front yard. Quite often I rarely spend much time looking at them, let alone smelling them. My girls love to watch the birds eat on the bird feeders, play outside in the grass, and just lay on a blanket on the grass, while looking up into the blue sky. They have taught me that some of the best times in life are the more simple things.

3. It is the quantity of time, not just quality. Too often we hear that it doesn’t matter the quantity of time, it is the quality of time spent. I have to say that my kids have taught me that it is both. I have spent many hours with my girls playing games, going for walks, playing outside, playing at the playground, and I can say that the time I have spent is quality because it is quantity. They have taught me that it doesn’t always matter what we are doing, it is just nice that Mom and Dad could do it with them.

4. The joy of being gone and coming back. The most exciting time of my day is driving home and anticipating my girls’ faces sticking in the front window waiting for me to drive in the garage. As soon as I walk through the door my 2 girls come running excited to give me a hug. When we return to heaven I know the long awaited reunion will have the same joyful excitement.

5. The importance of hugs, kisses, and your attention. My little girls like to give me hugs and kisses. They have helped me to understand the need to be loved and shown affection on a daily or even hourly basis. They also love to show me things and have me watch them do things like riding their bikes, coloring pictures, and doing various activities.


Children bring that certain magic to our lives. They are the lifeblood of our souls. Learn from them, love them, and help them to know their importance in this world to you and others.

Return to the Neighborhood and while you're there, subscribe to our fantastic newsletter. In addition to being able to shop in the new virtual neighborhood, the LDS newsletterbrings you LDS articles, LDS products, LDS services, LDS resources and LDSinterviews from around the world-all with an LDS focus. Look for issues delivered to your email inbox every week on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday.LDS Newsletter Subscriptions are FREE, and joining is easy.