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• Aug. 26, 2008
Back to normal?!?
I always hesitate to use the word normal. In my mind the word means peaceful, calm, everything going the way it should, etc. In my reality however the word usually means noisy, chaotic and everything being just a little out of sorts. So, with everyone on the same 'definition' I say, we are getting back to normal. 
As you know, last Monday, August 18th I had gall bladder surgery. Everything went great and recovery is going, well, normally! I am finding it much easier to get up and down and am looking forward to the near future when I can sleep on my stomach again.
In addition to my surgery last week it was the week we had scheduled for the first week of school. While I normally have a 4 day week planned I had scheduled the first few weeks as 5 day weeks to make up for some scheduled vacation times. Needless to say, while I was glad to get surgery over with at the beginning of the school year instead of the middle of it, it did throw off our plans a little bit. (However, that seems to be 'normal' for our lives.) Well, I am proud to say that even though she only had 3 days to accomplish 5 days worth of work, Sarah ended the week having all of her school work done! Oh the joys of a self-sufficient 6th grader! 
While Sarah is practically self-teaching, Timothy, as a young preschooler still needs hands on, so we have waited till this week to begin anything with him. Yesterday was his "1st day of school". What a difference between siblings. Needless to say, nothing is normal with a 3 year old boy, no matter what definition you use. I have never seen a child go from one extreme to the other as quickly as he can. But after a litte coercing I got him to actually enjoy lacing shapes and sorting colors. Today I will attempt to make a number train interesting. If nothing else, he really enjoys putting a sticker on his chart when he finishes a task. Seriously though, I am so amazed sometimes at the things he has learned without being 'taught'. When he had just turned two he was pointing out colors (not just primaries but things like pink and brown as well) and 'counting'. The child could drive you anywhere that he has been even once if he could only reach the pedals! Even when we are still at home if we mention going to Hometown Buffet he will tell us he wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese. This may not seem astounding to you but you have to understand, we pass Chuck E. Cheese to go to Hometown Buffet! He has not been to Chuck E. Cheese since he was one and that was the only time he has been there! His intellegence astounds and frightens me sometimes. Then again there are times he keeps it hidden so well.....
I now know why God gave us such a long gap between our children. When we started homeschooling Sarah I had no idea what I was doing so I bought entire kits of curriculum from preschool through 3rd grade that were no-brainers to use. I sat her down, gave her worksheets, she did the work and life was easy. By time we were through those initial years I had figured out what I was doing and started to branch out. Now I am comfortable picking and choosing something different for every subject and trying a more varied approach than the traditional, textbook/workbook combo.
Needless to say, the textbook/workbook combo will not work with Timothy, and if I had needed to teach him before I had figured things out we both would have been frustrated! Thankfully I feel freer to be a little more creative now. (If I could only find the energy to keep up with him!
)
This is one of my favorite times of year. After the non-scheduled pace of summer it is nice to get back into the 'normal' routine. All of the church programs start back up like the children's choir. I think I am more excited than the kids at this point but I can't help it. I absolutely love it. Timothy gets to join the young kids choir this year and I know he is going to be thrilled. Of course he already has memorized the older kids musical! He is going to be sad when he realizes he has a few more years before he can join us.
So I guess the author (I can't think of her name) had it right when she said "Normal is Just a Setting on Your Dryer". If life were what I thought of as 'normal' I would probably be bored. Of course there are days when bored doesn't sound bad.....
Shannon
