Family Home Evening (or lack thereof)

It's so funny that when you become a mother you are just sure that you are going to be great at it. You make all of these plans; you are going to only feed your children organic, homegrown food; you will teach them to read by the time they are 2; they will never miss church, and they will be the only toddlers in sacrament that are taking notes. Then the day comes when you realize how completly wrong you were! 6 years into motherhood and I'm pretty sure that my kids think that potatoes come out of the ground as french fries; they are in school but say that their favorite subject is recess; I'm almost positive that the bishop is going to lovingly ask us not to attend until our children are grown. Nothing works out like you plan. Tonight was family home evening. I spent all day making plans, looking for the perfect story out of past issues of the friend. I made an activity that I was sure was going to wow my family. Then comes time for FHE. It was Graci's turn to pick the song-she picked High School Musical; it was Gibson's turn to say the prayer-he blessed the treat and his toys. Then it was time for the lesson and activity. About halfway through my story on how families are eternally linked I look up and notice that my perfect little family wasn't really paying attention. Gavin and Gage were making faces at Gunnar, trying to make him laugh. Gibson was pretending that he was a jedi and was waving his light sabre around (a red straw). Graci was quietly singing to her Dear Darla. And John, the patriarch of our home, was fast asleep. I was going to stop, but I then the stubborness came out in me and I had to finish. I spent all day on this and I didn't care if I was talking to myself, we were going to have a spiritual experience! I got through the lesson and did the activity by myself. Gavin said the closing prayer and the children quickly ran to the kitchen for their cookie. Needless to say, it was not as successful as I had hoped. The rest of the night I beat myself up, wondering where I went wrong as a mother. John went to work and I got the kids teeth brushed and I put them to bed. A few minutes later I went to check on the boys. All three of them had their arms and legs hooked together and they were laughing. I asked them what they were doing and Gage said, so matter of factly, "Mom, we're a forever family so we are linking together."