What I Learned in a Sikh Temple

Sikh Temple in New Delhi

If Wade Michael Page, the white supremacist who murdered six people last weekend at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin, had felt compassion, would he have committed the murders?

I don’t think so.

How do you get to the point where you feel no compassion? I’m not sure. But, I think it must start very early in life.

As I’ve said in other posts, I feel a huge burden to teach my kids certain life lessons. Compassion for others is one of those.

If you’re like me, I don’t come in contact with any Sikhs at home. But in April, we visited a Sikh temple in India.  And here’s what we found.

Parenting the Living Goddess: Am I Creating a Monster?

House of the Living Goddess

Parenting a toddler can be so difficult. This week we attended a birthday party for a four-year-old friend. Everything was going well until it was time to leave. It was at that moment, Feisty Spice, my two year old daughter, decided to scream NO! and hole-up in a bouncy house. I finally had to crawl in and drag her out, kicking and screaming. (Her not me) She didn’t want to go.

Embarrassing as this was, I fought the urge to make excuses. She’s jet-lagged.  She didn’t have a nap. She doesn’t usually do this. She….fill in the blank.  And the reason I didn’t make an excuse was because I’d just visited the home of a little girl called the Living Goddess in Kathmandu.

A Nepalese Funeral, A Public Cremation, and Sharing a Stranger’s Grief

In our culture, even in this era of extreme openness, there are still some things that we keep private. Last year when my father died, I remember asking my mother if she wanted an open casket at the funeral. And while she wanted it open, there is a feeling of vulnerability when your loved one is laid out for people to see, even if those people are friends and family.

So when you see a culture that performs its funeral rituals with complete openness, it is sobering as well as shocking. I wasn’t prepared for it and that made it more unbelievable. As it stands, I’ve thought about this funeral many times since we returned from Nepal two weeks ago.

Backwards Bucket List: Flying by the Top of the World!

I’ve wanted to see this place for a very long time. And since it can be difficult getting there, I didn’t know if we’d be able to, especially with children in tow. But, we did! Last week, we took a flight and got to see the top of the world…

5 Surprising Reasons You Should Go On A Cruise With Your Kids

Think that cruising is just for old people or for couples wanting to party their way through the Caribbean? Think again. More and more families are cruising and here are 5 reasons why…

Elephant Rides, Monkey High-Fives, And One Very Important Rule

When you become a parent, you child-proof your house, wanting to make sure your kid is kept from harm. And you make rules, hoping to keep them safe. But, our trip to Thailand made me realize, you can’t prepare for everything, nor can you even imagine all of the rules you’ll need for your children.

This Photo Stinks!

In February, when we were in Asia, we came across a fruit called durian. I had never even heard of it, but we were very curious to try it since people snickered every time we asked about it.  What was so funny? We soon found out…