Prelude to Buddhism for Mothers of Young Children

Up until a few months ago we were fairly confident in our parenting skills armed with just a couple of What to Expect books – What to Expect when you’re Expecting and What to Expect: the First Year – and the internets. These three resources have been invaluable. They’ve helped us deal triumphantly with the everyday – like teething and first foods and diaper rash. 

Recently, however, I’ve felt like we needed something else. With each day that passes Frances becomes so much more of a little person and less of a wee babe. This emerging transition often leaves me feeling a little bit panicked. In some respects tiny babies become easy – they like to be dry, warm, fed, rested, cuddled and loved. But toddlers? Preschoolers? Children? They need to learn to be kind and to have empathy and to cultivate patience and to reflect and be to grateful. I hope (oh I hope I hope I hope) that as her mumma and pappa we live, or at least strive to live, these values everyday. Because children learn what they live. And because being decent human beings is important. 

But beyond this, beyond what we can teach her by simply being, I want to feel like the rules and the routines and the traditions and the lessons that we chose have a purpose. And that this purpose informs the rules, routines, traditions and lessons we chose in the first place. 

Thankfully there’s an entire industry coveting the pay pal accounts of new parents like me. After looking through what I imagine is but a small slice of the available parenting literature I’ve decided on three: Buddhism for Mothers of Young Children, Calm and Compassionate Children, and Raising Children who Think for Themselves. 

Once they arrived I skimmed through all three and decided to start with Buddhism for Young Mothers. I’m tempted to jump right into how much I adore this book (which is a lot) but should probably finish more than a quarter of it before offering an official review and my undying admiration. And so I’ll finish it and be back to detail all the many reasons it rocks my mother-of-young-child world.