Sprouting, living and dying

This will be another of those three part blogs I like to write that sums up life at the moment but I want to warn anyone that the last portion will be about facing the loss of a pet. 

Sprouting:

Two years ago we gave a small garden a try. We put it in the wrong place in our yard. Planted stuff at the wrong time and then let the weeds take it over. 

Last year I researched veggie gardens.  :)

So, currently in the kitchen window we have starter seeds soaking up sunlight. The kids were thrilled to play with dirt in the kitchen and even more excited when the first green sprouts appeared. Noah specifically requested peppers and Runa wanted tomatoes. We will also do green beans, carrots and radishes. I'm also doing potted strawberries and saw potted blueberries recently so I might invest in one of those. We are starting easy with the hardier plants. 

Living: 

I love winter but I also love how in spring we seem to come back alive with the Earth. My kids were hitting the stir crazy threshold with this abnormally cold Midwest winter and finally it seems to have broke. Soccer has started and swim lesson registration is right around the corner. 

Noah, in true Noah fashion, asked to play soccer this year and after two practices wants to quit. It was a long drawn out issue Saturday morning in which again I struggled to find the right words to explain it to him. We discussed following through on our commitments, the importance of not letting our team mates down and the fact that sometimes even things that should be fun require work. He listened and I know he understood from his responses but still I found him wanting to argue his point. His point by the way was strictly "I don't want to go to soccer practice. I want to go to the park"

My counter argument was strictly, "if we have to choose between what we want to do and what is right to do, we have to choose right. That is always best."

He is only five and is displaying the typical five year old need for instant gratification and wanting to control what he does. I know that and that is why next year if he still hates soccer he won't have to play. But even at this age he needs to start understanding how to make the best choice.

Speaking of age....the RueBear turns 4 this Saturday. The hubs and I used our night out this weekend to buy birthday gifts and clothes for her. We discovered she is hard to buy for these days. She had definite likes and style. She also has attitude. She is signing up for dance this fall at her request. I wonder if it will be the same conversation? 

Dying:

Our seeds are sprouting, we are getting out of our winter cocoons, and just as the wheel turns we learned last week our oldest cat is dying. Our beautiful Lynxy had lost half her body weight in just a couple of months. The blood work shows her kidneys have pretty much completely failed. She is not in any pain and still plays, wants loved on, eats and drinks. She is still head kitty of our three. But this will be her last few weeks or months with us. We have told the kids she is sick and she will not get better. Just to give her love when she asks and let her rest. We are giving her a special diet and supplements. But the day will come when she will get really sick. 

She is fourteen. I got her from a shelter after she had been adopted and brought back not once but TWICE for behavior. She is a non-breed standard pixie bob and has by far been the most intelligent cat I have ever lived with. She was our hunter and last August protected her family from a bat that had found its way into the house. In my fourteen years owning her I have never had mice. 

She is also vocal. VERY. VOCAL. And she is a little high strung. I finally gave up on owning curtains. We had to lock the fridge because she learned how to open it. We had to get different sink handles because pixie bobs love water and she learned how to turn it on. We have to keep the toilet handle tight or she flushes it to watch the water swirl (seriously this cat is hell on my water bill). 

Me and her have been together longer than I have known my husband. And I have promised her we will be together on the day she leaves. 

So I guess I will close is stating the obvious. Such is the nature of attachment. It causes suffering. But when the attachment is another life that has enhanced ours and brought us joy the suffering becomes worth it for the joy the memory will bring. 

Children's Books

To me the best way to raise children in any faith is to live the faith yourself. Not just talk about it but really live it and so we strive to live compassionate lives, model generosity and practice kindness. But in all honesty sometimes the words of others are more effective than our own. When I am confounded or troubled I often turn to the Sutras and I realize that it would be nice for my kids to have something similar. So, I started looking for children's books that teach the middle way. We have now read several and each has something wonderful to offer. I am going to quickly recap a few and hope to post another blog in the future with some others.

Buddha at Bedtime by Dharmachari Nagaraja:  This is a series of bedtime length appropriate stories for kids. There are some illustrations but I have found it best to read these myself and then impart them as the "make up a story" time we enjoy before bed. I enjoy the book myself for the writing and the choice of material. This is a good book also for the 8-9 year old reading level so it has a good shelf life for kids as they grow.

Prince Siddhartha: the story of the Buddha by Landaw and Brooke: a retelling of the story in simple language easy for kids to understand. Again there are some illustrations but it's not a picture book and is better used for younger kids as a oral narrative. I like the flow of this book in that it focuses on the big events and puts the enlightenment in terms a child can somewhat understand. Better than I could do by far. My only minus for this book is there is an illustration of Siddhartha emaciated that is a little frightening to younger kids. Just skip that page or do as I did and replace it with another picture.

Moody Cow Meditates and Peaceful Piggies Meditate by Kerry Lee Maclean: This is by far our favorite line in the way of picture books thus far and these are invaluable for introducing children to the concepts of meditation and mindfulness. The story is very easy to relate too for all age groups (including myself) and the illustrations are colorful and fun. There are resources and tips in the back for parents to use these books interactively and we even made a "mindfulness Jar" as described in moody cow for each child. I highly recommend these.

So, this is what we have been reading in our house. As usual I would love recommendations on what we should read next.