With only three weeks left before the kick off to a new school year, I find myself stuck between two quotes. The first is a part of everyday language, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." I have been finding myself feeling a little bit of deja vu in a lot of my daily activities lately. I mean how can you not fill out those registration/emergency forms for school or head to the store for school supplies and not ask yourself, "Didn't I just do this?" Sure a year has gone by. Perhaps some of the items on the school list have changed, but really for the most part, it's a lot of the same ol' stuff.
Heading into my second year of 1/2 day homeschooling has given me a bit of the jitters. I can tell myself that things went well last year and that Bella seemed to benefit from the personal attention and repetition, but this is a brand new year. 3rd grade feels different than 2nd grade. There are higher level concepts and more ideas to grasp. Am I ready for that? I looked ahead to what the lesson plan was for social studies and saw Bella would be learning about the Vikings this year. When I told her that, her response was classic, "That's easy, Mom. I already know about Brett Favre." Should be an interesting school year...
With Harry and Becca, I am in a bit of a panic about their new schools. I have to be honest. I was more than slightly nauseous when I charted out the days off in my planner from all three schools. Being in 3 different school districts this year is going to be complicated. I have kind of resigned myself to the fact that there will likely be a day that I will either bring someone to school when it's not in session or perhaps they might be late because it is a day that I thought they were off.
Facing the stress and the unknown circumstances of this upcoming school year has led me to rely heavily on a second quote. It has become a mantra of sorts for me. It is simply, "That which we manifest is before us." It comes from one of my favorite books that I have ever read, "The Art of Racing in the Rain." If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you check it out. It is written from a dog's point of view and it has so many touching moments. Anyway, I find the quote comforting when I feel like I am drowning in the chaos and uncertainty of what this coming school year holds. It's really no different from what I'm sure you've heard a million times before in different ways...the power of positive thinking, the Secret, and many others. Perhaps it touched me because it came from a dog or at least the author's idea of how a dog would think. It is simple, yet extremely powerful. Sure there will be difficult times this year, but I need to remember that if I expect the best, things will go much better. If you expect the worst, well you know how that goes...
Now regarding the Minnesota Vikings upcoming season, I suppose I should pick the second quote to focus on, rather than the first. Well, I guess Bella and I will cover that together this fall during homeschool...
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