Hello, my friend!
I hope you’re doing great, and that if you’re a parent of school-aged children, that the kickoff to the school year has gone swimmingly.
Never in a bajillion years would I have ever thought I’d be a home educator, (more on my former aversion to children below), but here I am, up to my eyeballs in composition books, readers, fake money and more, and absolutely loving it! Sure, my son and I have our moments of frustration and overwhelm, but we have come so far since we started last August. We’ve each grown immensely more patient with one another, my son’s become significantly more self-controlled and respectful during our lessons, and I’ve gained a fair amount of discernment when it comes to knowing when to press in, pull back, or pack up the books and call it a day. I’ve also let go of—or at least loosened my grip on—my perfectionistic, unrealistic notions about the “ideal homeschool day.”
And that serves as a perfect (though I’m not a perfectionist) segue into the first section of this week’s Top 4!
THE PITIABLE PURSUIT OF PERFECTIONISM
“Perfectionism is not a quest for the best. It is a pursuit of the worst in ourselves, the part that tells us that nothing we do will ever be good enough.” — Julia Cameron
DON’T MIND THE ARSONISTS
“Those who don’t build must burn.” – Ray Bradbury
This quote reminds me not to place too much stock in what critics spout. Listen only to those who truly care about you and what you’ve set out to accomplish. Jealousy, envy, and mean-spiritedness are easy to spot, because they come from individuals who only seek to tear down, one cutting gibe, or passive-aggressive quip, snub, or cold shoulder, at a time.
APHRODITE THE BARISTA (excerpt from my upcoming novel, available for pre-order HERE!)
“I could. Of course I could. But that’s not what I meant. I meant I can remove the un from that unfortunately.” She rocks away from the wall and steps into a yellow patch of sunlight that makes her skin look like it’s been brushed with glittery bronzer. “I can improve your relationship with them. Completely turn it on its head.”
Rosalind isn’t sure which is more absurd, that she seems to be entertaining a real live deity, or that said deity believes she has the power to help her and her sisters get along. Feeling the onset of a headache, she leans over the side of the bed. “I need coffee,” she moans.
“Cream or sugar?” Aphrodite chimes with the friendliness of a flight attendant.
Rosalind jerks up her head and sees a golden mug of steaming coffee in Aphrodite’s hand. It’s the best-smelling coffee Rosalind’s nose has ever known.
“Half and half?” Aphrodite turns to the book she just as a silver pitcher materializes next to a framed photo of Rosalind and Vic.
The photo was taken in Times Square the week after high school graduation. That had been the night Vic started her YouTube channel, or at least started recording content for it. The video that resulted was titled “Day in the Life: Texas Girl Meets Big Apple” and earned Vic her first fifty subscribers. Once Vic reaches fifty thousand, which, she guesses, will be by summertime, she’s promised to host a meet-up in New York. Her subscribers insist that her “funny friend” Rosalind join her.
Mentally disturbed friend is more like it, Rosalind thinks. What will Vic say when Rosalind tells her she got her coffee this morning from a Greek goddess? She won’t tell her, of course. Vic prides herself on being open-minded, but a line has to be drawn somewhere, and Rosalind has a hunch that befriending pagan gods is not on the right side of it.
I ATE MY WORDS ABOUT MOTHERHOOD…
As promised in the intro, this Substack article details how God guided me, by His grace and goodness alone, to the glistening shores of motherhood.
Thank you, as always, for your support of my writing!