breaking from normal

Clare,

I like the feeling of belonging…
but I sometimes am seduced by the idea of belonging.
If I do or say the right thing…
then I'll belong.
That frightens me.
Early on…
when my kids were struggling in school I read something that said something like…
once people realize they have a choice…
those that shoos to exercise an alternative choice are the most"dangerous" to the system…
once a person has the courage to buck the system once they don't stop questioning.
I took my kids out of public school for alternative educations…
Montessori, homeschool, cyber school, charter schools, parochial school…
we have tried (and are still trying) many things…
carefully considering the child's needs at that time…
It was piece-meal, but effective…
I'm still doing it with one in parochial school and one in cyber-school.
That break with "normal" allowed me to leave the church that no longer resonated with my understanding of spirituality. It allowed me to separate from a marriage that had long ago died. It allowed me to resurrect that same marriage, not out of obligation but from a place of surrender and wisdom. At times I still want to run away…but the lessons are here to help me to mature and grow.
So I stay…
by choice.

How do you feel about RE teachers being mandated reporters?
I get so frustrated by the view that it is intrusive and an unreasonable intrusion by the government.
My view is that people have had decades or centuries to report child abuse and most have felt uncomfortable and ignored it or felt it was not their problem…now there are rules saying that if there is suspicion you must report.
Doesn't your conscience tell you the same thing?
I've reported suspected child abuse multiple times since I finished medical school. It's damned uncomfortable to make that call…
but it might save a child trauma and a lifetime of problems- physical, emotional and spiritual.
I just have such difficulty seeing the other side of this question.

Sundays have become CSA basket day. We get a basket of vegetables every Thursday from a local organic farm. Everything that doesn't get eaten before Sunday gets thrown into Sunday dinner. Tonight I am roasting potatoes with parsley, beets with balsamic, and eggplant that will get a balsamic drizzle after their cooled. I have okra, but haven't decided what to do with it yet. I may freeze it until soup season. Any suggestions for okra?

Anyway. It sounds like you've had a wonderful weekend.
Love and Light,
Maggie