During the first week of school, Kate had math homework for which she needed help. She brought me her worksheet and I proceeded to outline and use examples to show her the method that I thought was the easiest way to figure out her difficult math problem. Several minutes of this went by and then Kate said, "Mom, I already figured that out. Here, it's on the back." She turned her paper over and showed me how she figured it out. It wasn't the most efficient way (at least to me) of figuring out the problem, and I don't think the way she figured it out will make it hard for her to understand more advanced mathematics. In fact, I think the way she did it actually shows that she understands the why she gets the answer, not the how.It just made me remember that we are all different and have our own ways to figure out and fix our problems and assignments. Just because I believe all the plates need to be loaded in the dishwasher facing the middle, doesn't mean that the plates won't get clean if Jon places them all facing in one direction. The end result is the same, whether it's done my way or Jon's way. I think too often I believe my way is the "best" way in efficiency and order, forgetting that it's not necessarily the journey to getting it done that's important, but it's that it gets done (in regards to housework at least). So, thank you, Kate for reminding me that we are all individuals and each of us think for ourselves and understand things differently.
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