“Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is the way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.” ~William Martin
We sit back to back in the workroom, working separately but together. She’s writing a summary of the early Renaissance for her online history class and I’m eating oatmeal with honey and bacon, finishing up some loose ends of Chapter 1 that I ALMOST finished this weekend. She asks a few questions, but mostly we work in quiet, letting the fullness of morning kiss us with its filtered light. The psalm for the day is still twirling in my head, “Behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers (or sisters) dwell in unity.” (Psalm 133)
On the best days, I write a portion of the psalm down and revisit it during the day.
The sliding door in the kitchen is open and even from two rooms away, I almost need a jacket. I’m fighting with every ounce of discipline not to leave my work behind and go start a fire on the back porch and read a novel and she’s antsy to take a break too. Maybe once my work is done? I decide to quickly strip my bed because Monday is always a good day for washing sheets. She belts out Les Mis from the other room while I think, wow, what a pretty voice and what 12 year old knows all the words to every song from Les Mis? This one is a humdinger and she’s pretty fun to hang out with all day. Good and pleasant, yes. [Read more…] about Homeschooling?, Book Writing, & Ordinary Days