Day 8 - Basket case

No, it is not what you think, I have not lost my marbles, any of it actually, nor has Ben. Simply I wanted to make the case for a basket, you know, the one made with pliable wood...It is a humble implement of multiple uses, and actually looks good at any setting, and any room...

Case of the basket

Back to the case of the basket as relates to homework, sometimes I feel the setting is important also when work is being done. Just finding pencils all sharpened, or erasers on hand, can make a difficult work a little more palatable. Oh the joy of finding a pen that writes when you have a phone in one hand and looking for a piece of paper, any paper even printed receipts to note that all important phone number... how frustrating must it be to constantly look for a pencil then? Not that my son may notice that he does it so often or even remember for next time. It might just not register... like the dust under his chair that I noticed today (his table is upstairs, and I don't go upto his room too often for fear of a heart attack). I have many many plants in the house, and in winter, they don't like the setting too much. It is too cold in the house, and not enough sunlight, and so they shed a lot of leaves... so Ben has been stomping the leaves up and down the house and all around the table... didn't faze at all. I took one look at them and ran to my vacuum cleaner... need I say more?

So back to the basket, I helped him organize two large baskets. One for all his implements. Several boxes of them in fact... all his pencils, Hero pen from India (I had to pay 10$ for an ink bottle in Staples!), and a box of crayons and color pencils, some art paper (for those hazy moments, when he just wants to draw and let out steam). Another basket has paper. In two folders. One is a do now, another is a do later. All the do now is homework for now. The do later is the projects being worked on. I tell him to write the name of the project on the folder and due date. When it is handed in, we cross out the project and write in the next one (most likely, two or three projects are being worked on at the same time). This way all the papers for the project are at least in one spot, and cleanup is a cinch (see how I always come back to cleaning up! like my kids say, Mom, you have a cleaning disease :)))

Report for the day

All homework is completed, and the fracking project is starting to look good. I asked him more questions when I looked it over, and he is scouring the articles once again to answer my questions. All editing is now being done on the computer. His teacher has asked him to correct how he has cited his sources. I guess they are taking this project quite as seriously as I did... 

My personal journey is continuing with the walks (5 miles) and meditation. I find it very calming, the walk. Today I chanced upon the brook just as the sun was hitting it at an angle. Had to stop and savor the moment. Just the clear sky and brown leaves on the ground, babbling brook, frigid air and quietness all around... 

Deepak Chopra's Day 8 - Abundance and the Law of Pure Potentiality

Our centering thought for today is:

"Through the Law of Pure Potentiality, I can create anything, anytime, anywhere."

Today's Sanskrit mantra and its English essence are:

Om Bhavam Namah
I am absolute existence. I am a field of all possibilities.