Went for a walk today along the creek by my house with a 5 year old paleontologist, an 8 year old self defined
earthologist, a 2 year old
followalongologist and a
Papaologist. Initially we set out to look for fossils that can often be found along the creek. We ended up catching minnows, collecting rocks, studying the way the water moves, amazing over water bugs, picking up garbage left by others and slipping on algae.
My kids were trying to define themselves as one thing or another, yet clarifying that they also had interests beyond the scope or definition of their studies. Example: My 5 year old wants to be a paleontologist who also likes volcanoes and crystals and rocks and water and animals. This line of thinking is what lead to my daughter calling herself an earthologist. We talked some about how even though you may work at one thing primarily you will always have interests in lots of other things too.
All of this ology talk got me thinking. What is my primary ology and what are my minors? Momology, craftology, parentology (isn't there a book by this title?), balanceology, chefology, homeworkology, siblingology...man, the list could seemingly go on and on (although a few of these could be sub-studies of the encompassing momology). And these are just the things that I take on myself to learn about. There are also so many wonderful things that I get to learn about or relearn as a parent. Like before I became a parent I never knew so much about dinosaurs or volcanoes or sibling interactions (I'm an only child) or the life cycles of the ladybug. I had also never met Anasi or Skippyjohn Jones or Poppleton and his crew, who all feel like close family members now.
Funny that this should come up today. Right now I feel that I am in a place where I am trying to break away from the definitions that I have tried to impose on myself over the years in order to feel that everything was right or in place. It was like those definitions gave me a sense of direction...of what I was 'supposed' to be doing. It's taken me a long time to realize that those definitions were developed by someone else and were not meant for me nor do I (or any of us) have to live by any definitions at all. Yet, my kids were reminding me that we all have to go through this categorizing phase in life. I guess it helps us to learn the boundaries of the world around us and see where we can push them and where we rely on them in order to feel safe.
Isn't life wonderful how we get to try on all of these different shoes throughout the years...some of which become quickly discarded, and others which are kept and well worn.
First, I have to admit, I'm not really a cat person. I love cats, and have had them all of my life, but I'm not drawn to them. Ella, our current feline in residence, was a street cat and has never quite gotten the street out of her. She tends to attack when unprovoked. Poor girl just can't relax and get into the petting. So I wasn't super excited about drawing cats. 
