10:44 at night and I find myself thinking about sushi. Makes me think that maybe I shouldn’t have already declared tomorrow an “at home day.” It would be so fun to have a sushi lunch! Maybe a bento box with it… If not tomorrow, then what about the next day? I start to think things like maybe sushi after church on Thursday morning would be good. After all, I’ll already be out. It’s just 30 minutes in the wrong direction to get sushi.
I’ll sleep on it.
Spoiler, I’m 95% most likely not going to get sushi either day.
It’s not that I don’t really want the sushi. Trust me, if there is an opportunity to eat sushi, I’m going to have at least a Tuna Roll. Perhaps even a California Roll, Cucumber Roll, or Thai Roll too! But I don’t need the sushi.
If we are always giving into our wants – like if we really go get sushi each time we want it – what are we illustrating about our willpower and want versus need to our children? Mr Kisby and I have really been attempting to stress to LilKsby the importance of whether a want for something is fleeting (aka forgotten by morning) or an actual want that is worth waiting for. We’ve tried to stress this to him when it comes to things like picking out toys and food to eat (especially going out versus staying in). What we’ve found is that often times the things we want are only wants for a brief time period. Then after we get it we find ourselves thinking “Why did we put money, time, energy, effort, etc into said item?”
With LilKsby we often discuss how much joy something will bring him along with a need versus a want. Oftentimes when I talk about these things with him, I reflect on my own things that I sometimes mislabel as a need like the sushi. Like I tell him, I need water, food (see maybe I do need sushi), oxygen, shelter, clothes, exercise, and good hygiene. Pretty much everything else is a want. Of course wants have their place! If someone offered me a legit free trip to the Bahamas just because I don’t need it doesn’t mean I wouldn’t go. Plus wanting things gives us goals, and our wants don’t have to be materialistic. For example, this month I want to complete a Digital Marketing course to help improve our businesses. I also want to be able to do 15 in-person skin care consults. These wants are not bad at all, and they have the possibility to be way more beneficial than wanting something like a box of crayons when I already have some!
Like anything with parenting, discussing wants versus needs is a work in progress. It also takes a lot of strength because I believe all of us would 100% get everything our kids ever asked for if it possible and reasonable. No offense, I’m never buying LilKsby his own pony. I barely like scooping cat litter. I am not cleaning pony poop!
11:00…maybe I should go to bed and see if I still want sushi in the morning!
XOXO,
The Great Kaysby
The Great Kaysby 