It's been a week of deep thinking and great discussions at the Classical Conversations' practicum and tutor training. I enjoyed the training and I'm also grateful to be home and thankful to find that the rest of the family survived quite well, and even kept the garden alive. They could have left it to fend for itself, like I did to them.
In keeping with the practicum theme (Science: The art of wonder and inquiry), I can see that we'll need to be making those bouncy balls Ethan is asking for and that I need to do a better job of answering his numerous questions.
I've started an Evernote file on my phone titled "Ethan's Questions". Things to google later, basically.
These are the types of things that can send me over the edge. Flubber and borax and glue and one million questions...I'm pretty sure I'm not cut out for this job. I'm pretty sure God uses this mother-life to whittle me down and build me up again and again.
We'll make bouncy balls, using this tutorial or this one. We'll clean up the mess, get out the science books or google the inevitable questions, and then move on.
Speaking of inquiry, this was a great and convicting read:
Pearls Before Breakfast @ Story Warren
"The lesson, of course, is one we know, but routinely ignore. We are too numbed by our frantic busy pace to recognize beauty. Even when it is loudly echoing around the chambers in our usual subway stop, even when our children are begging us to stop, we blaze through, hellbent on completing whatever task or errand we might see as essential at that time."
And things that make me crazy:
9 Ever-Present Distractions That Keep Us From Fully Living @ Becoming Minimalist
"When we endure our days only for the sake of tomorrow (the weekend, the vacation, or the retirement), we miss out on the full beauty and potential of the present."
Internet Outrage, Public Shaming, and Modern-Day Pharisees @ Relevant Magazine
"What if instead of condemnation, we became known for giving benediction? What if instead of being on the hunt to catch people doing wrong, we went on the hunt to catch people doing right? What if instead of looking for someone to curse, we started looking for someone to bless? What if instead of naming people according to their worst behaviors and features, we named them according to their best and most God-reflecting ones?"