Thursday, June 28, 2007

I have no control over my printer

The Canon printer is still being difficult. Anything in color or grayscale is coming out with stripes. I'm sure it doesn't help that the cats use the printer as a landing/launch pad from their window shelf. And anyone who thinks you can train a cat to not do that has not shared space with enough cats. I am perfectly willing to admit after having pets and children that I have no real control over my home. I think it's a good life lesson. How many things do we truly have control over in our life? I know I've thought I've been in control of situations only to be taken down a notch when the rules suddenly change. I thought I was getting the hang of parenting with one child, then I was pregnant again. I thought I was getting the hang of parenting two, and then I was expecting the third. You have all witnessed on these pages how well parenting has been going the third time around. I have no delusions of being in control. My goal is peaceful coexistence and self-sufficiency. Letting things go would be a major plus.
The same happened with homeschooling. As I figured out how to teach each child, new challenges arose. When I tried to control these situations, everyone suffered. I'm reminded of the old adage, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make it drink. When I thought, "this is how I taught Marina, so it has to work with Chase,"tensions rose, tempers flared, yelling was the common form of communication and I almost gave up on homeschooling. I could not change how Chase would learn, so I changed. I learned to adapt and find another way to teach him. Sierra will be kindergarten age in the Fall. I've already noticed that she is going to be different from both of her siblings. And that is how it should be. I can control their thought processes about as easily as I can control the weather. I've found that if I exercise my creativity, find new ways to teach old concepts, and avoid force feeding concepts I can make learning a much more enjoyable experience. As I grow, and I hope I continue to grow, new challenges make life worth living. I accept the changes in my life and take on the new challenges as they come, knowing that God will provide all I need to meet those challenges. Faith, after all, is about putting our problems into the hands of God and knowing that all will be as it should be.
Of course, an occasional respite in the mundane is also welcome. Meeting challenges can be tiring. Excuse me, my challenges are calling...

No comments:

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...