Distractions

Today it feels as if we're starting the school year over. I was, let's say, a little distracted during the last week and a half! I wanted to put that extra load of homeschool guilt on myself this morning (you know...the "I'm not doing enough" guilt), but how could I not be distracted when I was sitting by my dear Grandmother watching her fade away? It was a blessing to be able to do this, but it was very, very hard.

I find it remarkable that even with my sense of distraction, a lot of learning was accomplished in the last 10 days. Peter and Anne were troopers and keep up with their school work very well. However, there were many other lessons learned; we had a number of poignant conversations that were remarkable. Peter questioned why Nana couldn't just "take a pill and get it over with quickly" since the outcome was obvious and he'd rather go quickly by his own choice than lay there are slowly die. Wow; what a conversation we had! There were many conversations about family history, our memories of Nana and about loving someone by being there for them even when it is heart-wrenching to do so. We talked about family relationships and how even though they are often less than ideal, it is part of being in the family that God has placed us in.

This morning, as we sat down to begin our school week, I thought "Isn't it great to begin a "normal" week?". Then I laughed realizing that there is no such thing as a "normal week" in our house! I often envision other homeschoolers having perfect schedules with no interruptions, but they rarely happen here! I cannot remember the last time there was an entire week went by without haircuts (of the human or the dog variety), sick kids, appointments (Dr., dentist etc), field trips, church meetings or visitors. It seems that learning to bend and flow around these interruptions is a lesson for me! I am a natural "box checker" that loves a plan and order. Learning to flow around challenges does not come easily to me, but I might be making a little progress in realizing it.