Raising children in America

...is proving to be quite difficult. Why is this so hard? So many people are doing it, why can't I? I'm not saying I can't, what I'm saying is that it's difficult.

We live in such a materialistic society that everyone falls victim to, so that's battle front number one- things aren't everything. Number two, is religion. I'm trying to be the best Buddhist I can be (which is difficult since I wasn't raised this way, but am having to learn now as an adult), and in turn I'm trying to raise my children as buddhists. This is quite a challenge. Human nature is to react...and I'm tired of people- myself included- just reacting. It's not about reacting, it's about acting. I don't want my children to react, I want them to hold their actions as their own, so in an attempt to raise them as Buddhists, that what I'm tackling first. Human nature coupled with child-behavior says "He made me mad." or "He made me cry." and so we are trying to learn to step away from the knee jerk reaction and learn that no one can make you do anything. How you react is up to you, and you have choices. And I am proud to say, that though it's HARD for anyone to learn this, slowly, my children are getting it.

-thoughts of the busy momma