By Molly Snyder Senior Writer Published Oct 12, 2009 at 5:44 PM

I spend a lot of time subtly reinforcing our family values to my kids, mostly big picture stuff like the significance of honesty, peace and art. This weekend, however, I had an unexpected teaching moment, and I got to introduce a concept to my son that’s not on the A-list of family values, but delivers an interesting and important message.

During a frantic cleaning session -- one of my famous feng shui freak outs -- I broke a small drinking glass on the bathroom floor. It cracked into about eight large shards, and my 7-year-old was fascinated by the sound, the shatter and the appearance. He crouched down and looked at the sharp clear pieces like he was observing a bug on a leaf in the garden.

"Be careful," I said, going into robotic mom mode. "Don’t cut yourself!"

"It looks really cool," he said. "Like the kaleidoscope."

I was already running for the broom and dust pan, but I stopped, turned around and went back into the bathroom. I asked him if he had heard the words "wabi-sabi," and he said no.

"It’s Japanese. It means sometimes things that are broken are still beautiful," I said. He looked at me, then blinked slowly which made me think he was really thinking about the concept.

I had never thought about "wabi-sabi" as something I wanted to teach my sons, but suddenly, I was glad to mention it, especially if they are perfectionists filled with expectation like so many of us.

Thanks to my busy, cross-it-off-the-list life, I probably miss many moments like this. Hence, I was glad to have been present enough to catch this opportunity, and I hope I learned from it.


Molly Snyder started writing and publishing her work at the age 10, when her community newspaper printed her poem, "The Unicorn.” Since then, she's expanded beyond the subject of mythical creatures and written in many different mediums but, nearest and dearest to her heart, thousands of articles for OnMilwaukee.

Molly is a regular contributor to FOX6 News and numerous radio stations as well as the co-host of "Dandelions: A Podcast For Women.” She's received five Milwaukee Press Club Awards, served as the Pfister Narrator and is the Wisconsin State Fair’s Celebrity Cream Puff Eating Champion of 2019.