Zen and the art of nappy changing...

[oremstango]

I'm interested in Buddhism in relation to parenthood. It seems like so much of having a baby can be about focusing on what is not happening (they're not sleeping through the night, not doing this yet, etc.) and focusing on the future, and not just simply being in the moment with the child, something children are great at. Has anyone read anything on this they could recommend? Any personal thoughts?

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i found that as well when i had dd. i didn't realsie how much slower life would be with a baby. it's great because i found that i noticed so much more. you're right about babies being in the moment tho.

oremstango, how funny, I've just become interested in Buddhism and Taoism myself, and have just got a lovely little book called the Tao of Motherhood by Vimala McClure. It is really lovely to have next to your feeding chair to dip into and is full of wisdom. It's a US title and you can get it through Amazon. HTH

I find living in the moment really hard now I have three. It's not so pressured during the holidays as we can just hang out but on school days I have dd1 to get ready for school, dd2 for pre-school plus ds to feed and dress. I have to keep thinking one or even two steps ahead and it's very frustrating.

It's so difficult to live in the moment when there's so much to do. So much of the mundane, I mean, like school runs, cooking, shopping, homework and so on. But when we have the opportuntiiy to focus on the now, it's so worthwhile.

For the past year I've been taking ds1 to Religion School on a Sunday, but dd was still too young (she starts in September). At first I was pg, and then of course the baby (ds2) was coming with us. It was so difficult to persuade dh that he should have dd for the morning. He always felt under the pressure of jobs. We'd just moved house and there was masses to do. Week after week I tried to convince dh that I should leave dd with him. What finally swung it was me saying "The work [whatever it was that week] will still be here next Sunday, but dd will be a week older." Since then he has had dd most Sunday mornings and has grown to really appreciate it. Sometimes they fill their morning with activity, other times they merely putter about together. But it has been a huge growing-closer time for both of them, and dh realises what he would have missed had he insisted on doing what had to be done, rather than putting it to one side and 'living in the moment' with his dd.

Jon Muth's books for kids are lovely, your baby maybe too young for them but its Zen related stories.

Zen Shorts