It Was Just "Ordinary"...And That's Wonderful!

Change.

There's been a lot in my life recently. I expect there to be more in the upcoming months.

In the past six weeks I have moved my daughter to a different city, first apartment, and new college, had a health scare in my family, changed classrooms to allow a growing class enjoy our large classroom, and have had my two teenage nephews move in with my family. There were a few moments a bit more dramatic that this description, but I'll spare you. But whew. It's been quite a month.

Things are settling down.  Not to what it was, but to a new kind of normal.

When things were at their craziest, with my home filled with boxes (some incoming, some outgoing, some just going to storage), evening filled with phone calls to figure futures out, and a few rushed appointments. I truly saw and felt what I think our students feel when chaos surrounds them at home.

School was ordinary. And ordinary was wonderful!

For those few weeks, "ordinary" meant safe, natural, familiar, settled, and predictable.

It had nothing to do with the lessons I was still preparing, the seasonal and themed projects I was still doing, or even the interruptions that were still happening.  Instead, school was the one place that I could see a system of organization that made it safe for me to continue to truly be me and forget my worries.  At school, I had the freedom to breathe deeply. I found more hugs. More smiles. And I could giggle.

*Sigh*

I never thought "ordinary" would be a word I'd want anyone to use to describe my teaching, classroom, or school. But if it is, I hope it's because they found comfort in it as I did.