Moments of quiet don't come often for Tammy Jones Huber.
Shortly after being named the 1998 National Mother of Young Children by American Mothers Inc. May 1, Sister Huber of the Oatfield Ward, Milwaukie Oregon Stake, was spending an afternoon at home - where she received almost as much attention as she did at the national convention.Not 10 minutes into a Church News telephone interview, Sister Huber's three young children interrupted. One just woke up from a nap, another wanted a drink of milk, the third just needed to talk. Then the ice cream man drove down the street.
At one point, she stopped the interview completely. "I am sorry," she said. "I can't hear anything you are saying."
Then Ashton, 6, Madeline, 3, and Camille, 2, noisily went about their own business - and their mother was allowed to continue.
"Ten minutes of quiet," she said to a Church News reporter. "That was pretty good."
After the commotion, Sister Huber was still quick to call motherhood her choicest blessing.
Some days - like the day of the interview - she just has to try to take life a little slower.
In her role as National Mother of Young children, Sister Huber wants to tell women across the country that their children will be little only once - that they will have only one childhood.
"The joy of childhood has kind of been lost in this country," she affirmed. "I am fortunate enough to be married to a man that is still a kid at heart."
So at the Huber household, children and parents discover things together.
In her spare time, Sister Huber teaches parenting classes at a local community center. There she tells parents that "children can be their greatest teachers."
Children are also a constant reminder of how their parents are doing. "When my son was younger he went to Church and told everyone that his name was `honey,' " she recalled. "I realized then that what we say and do in our home shows itself outside our home."
Sister Huber said she knows having children is part of the Lord's plan. "Being a mother helped me grow up," she said. "I never knew until I had children of the kind of love Heavenly Father has for me."
As her children grow, she hopes she can instill the values in them that will help them have a happy life. Her children, she said, "are just learning about testimonies and prayer. I have gotten to witness the earnest prayers of children - it is amazing."
And even on hectic days like the day of the Church News interview, Sister Huber said the prayers of her small children - and other things - are subtle reminders of why it is all worth it.
With one child on her lap, another on the floor playing with her shoe laces, Sister Huber's third child whispers - just loud enough so it can be heard over the telephone - "Momma, I love you."
