Different

by Sally Clarkson and Nathan Clarkson

[cherryblossommj]

Sitting down to write a review on this book, Different, after having finished listening to it in two days via Hoopla I hardly feel able to write a review that does it justice. I'm coming to read Different after having finished reading Book Girl through Libby by the dim light of my Kindle Paperwhite into the late nights in between feeding the baby and insomnia. As I sit down to type out my thoughts, I've queued up Book Girl as an audiobook from Hoopla.

I am a homeschool mama. Thus I have often heard of Sally Clarkson and have been recommended to read from her Whole Heart Ministries. I haven't yet. After having read The Enchanted Hour and skimming 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die, or some such, I stumbled upon the recommendation of Book Girl by Sarah Clarkson, daughter of Sally Clarkson. As I was starting to catalog this read and searching for an audiobook (as a busy mama needs) I came across Different by Sally Clarkson and her son Nathan Clarkson. After feeling like I have an introduction to their family with a kindred spirit of Sarah, I decided that perhaps I should peak into Different to see what advice or tidbits I might pick up.

If you've read my reviews, you know that I mostly post my thoughts on a book and not so much on my personal connections. While it is true that everyone connects to books in their own ways, I am not one to really air our own personal situations. With that said, I have, perhaps two, spirited children. Different children. We have no official diagnoses, however, the pediatrician did tell me he solidly agreed and that I was already doing everything that a specialist would recommend with my attentiveness, awareness, homeschooling, and determination to understand, grow, and help particular children to adapt. The more I research for understanding and helping my children grow the more I see a little of my Enginerd on the pages. Many things that I love about him are what set them apart from the standard child. The entire purpose of this statement is that he grew up and learned to grow and interact with the world around him, even when he found the world to be different from him, even if perhaps he was the one that was different.

This audiobook took me a part of two days to complete. I cannot relate to everything in this book. It was not written for me. But there is so much that I can see in a light that is encouraging for me as a young mother of a different child or two or three. The more I experience in parenting and homeschooling the more I am starting to realize that there really is no box. I really enjoyed listening to the words from Sally Clarkson, a veteran mom, and I hope that one day my children will look back on their time with me as encouraging memories and support. Whenever I lose my patience, my temper, or my sanity, I hope that those are not the firmest pegs of their childhood. I hope that it is the snuggled read aloud, entertaining history reenactments, and chemistry and mathematics in the kitchen that pulls through. This is thought-provoking and inspiring for any mother to read.

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