The Box

I am a traditional, linear thinker. If I have a project to do, I plan out the project, buy the materials, write it on the calendar, and complete the project in the "normal" linear way. I plan out almost everything, and our calendar is enormous (color-coded by child) and it carries Biblical weight in our home. If it's not on Mom's Master Calendar, it is not going to happen. In fact, the activity simply doesn't exist. Poor Cheng (our exchange student) has found that out the hard way this year!! Unfortunately for me, my organized way of tackling things often contradicts with Connor's outside the box thinking. Take yesterday's lunch, for instance. In the cupboard I have at least 10 cans of soup. Connor asked me around noon if he could have soup for lunch. Sure, no problem. I went upstairs to shower. But does Connor open up a can of soup and microwave it, like I expected? Of course not. He decided to create a new type of soup. He opened up a can of V-8 juice, added garlic, hot pepper flakes, crispy onions (that I bought to put on top of a salad), and a few other magical ingredients. Granted, he ate his creation and he was happy, but things like that drive me crazy. He even wrote his new recipe on a card and named his soup. I just had to hold my breathe, count to 10, slowly exhale, and remind myself over and over that I should not stifle his creativity. I even managed to comment on his interesting compilation of flavors, instead of yelling. It helps me to remember that people thought Einstein was retarded, and that Galileo was crazy; Connor just can't seem to do things in the "normal" way. This is WHY we home-school. If he was in public school full-time they would manage to make him conform, or he would fail. God grant me patience.