{"id":33152,"date":"2013-07-22T21:28:59","date_gmt":"2013-07-22T21:28:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=33152"},"modified":"2013-07-22T21:28:59","modified_gmt":"2013-07-22T21:28:59","slug":"actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/","title":{"rendered":"Actually, Mommy, I Ate Up All the Cookies"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Kid<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Jewinthecity.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

When I got to camp yesterday, my four year old son was filled with even more post-camp excitement than he\u2019s filled with on a regular afternoon, which consists of him responding \u201cGWEAT!\u201d with a smile plastered to his face when I ask how his day was. What made this day extra, extra special? Why, the children had baked cookies! \u201cAminal<\/em>cookies\u201d my two year old son \u2013 also a camper \u2013 informed me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I have three cookies, Mommy, and when I get home I\u2019m going to share them with my sisters,\u201d my older son explained. (His sisters always share their treats with him, so I was delighted to see that he was finally learning to be generous too.)<\/p>\n

My son is an unusually picky eater and has only a few foods in this world that he adores \u2013 cookies being one of them. My father once noticed that when my son eats a cookie, he doesn\u2019t just\u00a0eat<\/em>\u00a0it. He\u00a0experiences<\/em>\u00a0it. He examines its, feels it, smells it \u2013 the kid truly relishes it, which made his offer to share that much more impressive.<\/p>\n

As we were driving home \u2013 we literally live two and a half blocks away door to door \u2013 I referenced my son\u2019s generosity and noted how proud I was.<\/p>\n

\u201cActually, Mommy,\u201d my son interrupted, \u201cI ate up all the cookies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou ate up all the cookies?\u201d I asked incredulously. (Apparently he had skipped cookie-savoring this time and went straight to devouring them Cookie-Monster-style!)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about your sisters?\u201d I pressed him.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, the cookies looked so good, so I just ate them,\u201d he replied<\/p>\n

And then it occurred to me \u2013 this cookie struggle (heck, who am I kidding \u2013 it wasn\u2019t a struggle!) or rather this cookie scenario sums up what much of \u00a0life is about. I have a goal \u2013 an idealistic goal that I believe in, that I want to accomplish. But then I have a cookie right here right now and it looks so good, and maybe I\u2019ll just skip that higher goal and eat the cookie instead. Two choices before me, but which one do I take?<\/p>\n

I once heard an idea that according to Jewish thought, a human being is a hybrid of an \u201cangel\u201d and an \u201canimal.\u201d The \u201cangel\u201d is our soul and is connected to our intellect, conscience, and the loftier goals that we have for ourselves. The \u201canimal\u201d is our physicality, the part of us that wants pleasure and instant gratification and doesn\u2019t have any higher goals beyond the here and now.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just that these two components of a person are battling with one another, it\u2019s that one of them will often get the other to \u201cwork for it.\u201d How so? If the animal is mostly in control, it means the person doesn\u2019t only go after physical pleasures with the resources of the body, it actually\u00a0uses\u00a0<\/em>the intellect to calculate and manipulate to acquire even more of the materialism it desires.<\/p>\n

The Jewish goal, however, is to have the \u201cangel\u201d be in charge, and have the \u201canimal\u2019s\u201d desires serve it. So, for instance, when the \u201canimal\u201d notices how great a cookie looks, the \u201cangel\u201d takes that information and says, \u201cIf that cookie would be so delicious for me, I bet my sister would enjoy it too.\u201d The \u201cangel\u201d then proceeds to save the cookie for the sister (unlike my son!).<\/p>\n

Which one will be in control \u2013 \u201canimal\u201d or \u201cangel?\u201d It\u2019s a lifelong struggle that we all must face on a daily basis. But every time we can put off the instant pleasure for the higher goal, we feel pretty \u201cGWEAT!\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Life lessons from a 4-year old boy who couldn’t resist eating all the cookies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":790,"featured_media":33153,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_cloudinary_featured_overwrite":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-inspiration","category-parenting"],"yoast_head":"\nActually, Mommy, I Ate Up All the Cookies - OU Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Actually, Mommy, I Ate Up All the Cookies - OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Life lessons from a 4-year old boy who couldn't resist eating all the cookies.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"OU Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-22T21:28:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Screen-Shot-2013-07-11-at-10.27.49-PM.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"584\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"354\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Josephs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Josephs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/\",\"name\":\"Actually, Mommy, I Ate Up All the Cookies - OU Life\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Screen-Shot-2013-07-11-at-10.27.49-PM.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-07-22T21:28:59+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ae474c177ed214c0efe78e22813f0f\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/parenting\/actually-mommy-i-ate-up-all-the-cookies\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Screen-Shot-2013-07-11-at-10.27.49-PM.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/Screen-Shot-2013-07-11-at-10.27.49-PM.png\",\"width\":584,\"height\":354},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/\",\"name\":\"OU Life\",\"description\":\"Everyday Jewish Living\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/f0ae474c177ed214c0efe78e22813f0f\",\"name\":\"Allison Josephs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/allison@josephs.me_avatar-96x96.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/files\/allison@josephs.me_avatar-96x96.png\",\"caption\":\"Allison Josephs\"},\"description\":\"Allison Josephs has been involved in the field of Jewish Outreach for over a dozen years, teaching and lecturing, working at Partners in Torah, Sinai Retreats, and NCSY, and is the spiritual mentor to actress Mayim Bialik. 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