Lynda Loveland: It's sinking in, slowly

Just when you think your child has learned absolutely nothing from you, they slip and you get a glimpse of knowledge gleaned. It may not be huge, but it’s something. It gives you hope that maybe, just maybe, something is sinking in. 

My son has been giving me fits ever since he was a newborn with colic. I’ve already wished upon him the “I hope your child is just like you” curse. I didn’t think anything would permeate his thick skull, but it’s happened through indirect knowledge transfer.

My mother wasted nothing. Her parents were German immigrants. They couldn’t afford to waste anything. She saved Ziplocs, aluminum foil and dish water, just to name a few things. She poured the dish water on her plants outside.

Whatever seeds were left on the plates (tomato) and in the dish water always sprouted in her flower bed. She’d have a mini garden by summer’s end. NEVER thought I would do any of that. Now, I ALWAYS do all of that!

I don’t wash dishes in a dish pan so I don’t have that water to re-use, but I do re-use water from the salad spinner and the kids water bottles. After soccer practice one day, I noticed Caiden pouring the rest of his water on my herb garden. I realize that’s not an example of a critical character/behavior development. But, it teaches conservation and for me it was an “awww” moment to see my son carry on a family “tradition.”

He’s getting the “waste not” thing down. Still working on the “want not."