Attachment to labels

Busy, Busy, Busy. That sums up the past couple weeks. And as we go into the holidays it’s only going to get worse. This is my favorite time of year. I savor everyday between now and the New Year. I love the procession of Halloween, to Bug’s birthday, to Thanksgiving and the husband’s birthday is in there too, to Christmas and the New Year. Nine weeks of the good kind of crazy.

First a couple milestones: The Bear is officially 2 AND a half. One thing my husband and I notice is how well she articulates at this age and some of the funny phrases she has picked up from her brother. Phrases such as “oh you are best mommy in world” and “I need a little help here”.  She has also started asking to go to school. So we are going to start very soon telling her you have to be potty trained to go to school. 

The Bug is now into his last month as a three year old. I cannot believe he is going to be four soon. I have been trying to organize pictures of him and realize I now have a hard time remembering some of his baby days. Call it memory loss from sleep deprivation.  He is such a little person now. There is no baby, there is no toddler there is just kid. 

Now for the main course. 

A couple weeks ago a friend of mine posted this blog on her Facebook and I promptly read it, cried and reposted it. 

Here is the link:  http://www.handsfreemama.com/2012/10/16/notice-the-good/

Go back through my short blogging history and you will read that Bug is easily distracted and has a hard time following directions at times. You will read that Bear is willful and shy and bossy.

But let me tell you about some of their other qualities. 

Bug is funny and wants everyone to be happy. He is creative in play and repurposes toys. He loves animals, especially our dog and one of the cats. He likes people and always wants to make new friends. 

Bear is also funny but in an almost sarcastic way that is way above her age. She is nurturing to her “babies” and learns quickly. She is affectionate and empathic. She is very observant. She has a talent for singing, dancing and drawing. 

Bug will blaze his own paths and you can’t do that by always following directions. Nobody is ever going to walk all over Bear because she has determination. 

The attachment we hold to certain labels we give our kids is nothing more than our perception and therefore not real. Is he easily distracted from tasks or just looking at the big picture? Is she willful or is she determined? Should I be making these observations at all because in truth they lead me to compare and contrast the two of them when that isn’t helpful. The Bug is the Bug and the Bear is the Bear. 

So the practice of mindfulness needs to be seeing them for who they are as opposed to seeing them as a sum of labels. 

Finally, its fall which means I cleaned out the pantry and I am now restocking it for winter. I keep a larger amount of food on hand during the winter for snow/ice storms that might keep us from getting to the store for a couple days. I try to avoid having to hit the store right before a forecasted storm and fighting with the hoards who think 3 inches of snow will bring the world to a standstill. 

So when it comes to the food waste tracking these last few weeks were not good. In fact I come in with a grand total of $37. Ouch. 

But I learned some things about what I need in a pantry, what I don’t and spent a lot of time researching the shelf life of stuff. So hopefully this time next year instead of cleaning out the pantry to restock it, I am just restocking it. End of story. 

Today’s quote comes from the Dalai Lama:

“In Buddhism, both learning and practice are extremely important, and they must go hand in hand. Without knowledge, just to rely on faith, faith, and more faith is good but not sufficient. So the intellectual part must definitely be present. At the same time, strictly intellectual development without faith and practice, is also of no use. It is necessary to combine knowledge born from study with sincere practice in our daily lives. These two must go together.”