When My Child Wastes
The other day my oldest son was independently(woo hoo love when that happens) wrapping a birthday present for his cousin. He had the wrapping paper roll out and was trying to maneuver it around a very awkward shaped box. He was struggling a bit and started getting frustrated and ended up ripping it right off and throwing it on the ground.
An alarm went off inside of me and I snapped.
Last night the boys were setting the table and my youngest was sitting on top of the table moving things around and when he knocked over a full glass of water and the water spread across the whole dining room table.
An alarm went off inside of me and I snapped. (Come on Brooke, its just water.)
My middle son was getting together his breakfast yesterday morning and began pouring a full gallon of milk into his cereal bowl. With all of his might tried to lift the gallon and pour into the bowl when he tipped it towards the bowl it came gushing out at a high speed and overflowed his bowl and milk covered the island and started dripping onto the floor.
An alarm went off inside of me and I snapped.
Something happens inside of my brain when I see my child break something.
Something happens inside of my brain when I see my child spill and waste something.
My brain is screaming inside, ‘You’re wasting it!’
And, ‘We will have to pay to replace it!’
Or, ‘I’m going to have to take the time and energy to clean up that broken plate, or spilled milk.’
Even, ‘There won’t be enough left!’
A wise friend once said these words and nothing hit me harder than this. She was talking to her granddaughter who accidentally broke one of her things at her home and responded with this, ‘Nothing in this home is worth more than you.’ And, ‘ You are the most valuable thing in our whole home.’
That hit me like a semi truck.
My child is worth so much more than the two dollars worth of wrapping paper.
My sons dignity cannot compare to spilled milk.
How could I begin to think that water of all things would be worth yelling at my son about?
Scarcity.
Our brain is programmed to be alarmed when something is being used, when something is being ‘wasted’. It tunnel visions and makes it a high priority to notice because our primal brain is designed to make sure we have enough of anything and everything to survive.
It’s main job is to keep us alive, so when something is spilled or broken or wasted that is a crucial trigger. (Especially to this momma brain)
We have to override it. We have to remind this caveman brain of ours (our lower brain) that nothing has gone wrong.
Use our higher thinking to tell our lower brain that ‘Nothing in this life is worth more than our child.’
We have plenty of milk.
We have enough wrapping paper.
We have plenty of means to replace things.
We have more than enough time to clean it up.
It’s no big deal.
We have to flood our brain with thoughts of abundance.
Abundance is the cousin to gratitude. When we start noticing all the things we do have, especially these priceless prized little souls we are blessed with, then scarcity can’t survive.
Today when something is wasted, or spilled(because let’s be honest it happens everyday) notice when your brain offers you thoughts of scarcity. Be conscientious and flood your brain with gratitude and thoughts of abundance. Hush that alarm and reroute it.
“Abundant thinking is all about possibility. It leads to more joy, more sense of anticipation, more personal fulfillment, (for us AND our kids) more contentment.” - Michele Cushatt
