tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24067464.post6462141537832612679..comments2019-08-17T03:50:38.040-07:00Comments on i am hope: being human isn't a one-size-fits-all endeavor, even when you're 5A M B E Rhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01568015218380741354noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24067464.post-85710452412502932722013-06-27T19:59:32.141-07:002013-06-27T19:59:32.141-07:00I'm not sure how I missed this post. Having ju...I'm not sure how I missed this post. Having just written my swan song blog post on homeschooling, of course I resonate. <br /><br />I just finished reading another John O'Donohue book, <i>Eternal Echoes: Celtic Reflections on Our Yearning to Belong</i>. It's amazingly profound, but toward the end there was one passage in particular that made me think of myself in third grade, when my teacher was always telling me, "To come down from cloud 9," because I so often was staring off into space. The quote: <br /><br />"The eye has great affection for things. Only infants or adults lost in thought gaze lingeringly into the middle distance. These are moments when we literally look at nothing. This perennially neglected nothing is precious space, because it provides the medium and the trail of connection between all the separate, different things and persons." <br /><br />So...no, public elementary school definitely does not specialize in nurturing the mystical side of things, but it was nice for me to be vindicated by John O'Donohue all these years later. And I still stare off into space whenever I get the chance, which isn't often.<br /><br />Ike is lucky to have you as a mom and to have inherited your unique, artistic qualities, and I agree: he is going to do fine. I hope you will start blogging often again- I am missing it so much!Juliahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07050111738609344148noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-24067464.post-61503362898024029022013-04-08T12:31:12.976-07:002013-04-08T12:31:12.976-07:00I can so very much relate to this post. First of a...I can so very much relate to this post. First of all, I had a very similar school experience in elementary school. <br />Everything was uncomfortable.<br />Later I hated school with a passion. I loved Friday afternoons, and hated Sunday evenings to the point that I had an upset stomach.<br />My son Lukas has been in Kindergarten this year, and luckily we are very happy with the school and the teacher, who really sees these children as individuals and gives them different things to do in the morning according to their strengths and weaknesses. I love that.<br />Also, Lukas has a different personality than I had when I was young. He is fairly outgoing. Nonetheless I think all day Kindergarten is a lot for them, and I can tell how exhausted he often is and how often he just wants to stay at home and play and do his own thing. I feel conflicted about school all the time.<br />But so far he likes it and he definitely has a very different experience than I had.<br />I hope that Isaiah will also have a good experience and actually feel comfortable, experience warmth and beauty and learn things that matter.Manuelahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13981915711293898168noreply@blogger.com