normal?

I remarked to a friend recently that at the moment our life is the most “normal” it has been for a while or will be for a long time. I realise, of course, that normality is a socially-determined cultural construct (to be technical!) but here I’m talking about “normal” to me as the English woman I am, with the particular upbringing I have had.

So what is this “normal” I’m talking about? At the moment we’re living in England, going regularly to a church and members of a (lovely!) homegroup. The dad of our family is (occasionally) going out to work and the mum is looking after the kids and taking them to mums-and-toddlers groups and going on playdates. The not-so-normal is of course that we are living with the grandparents and don’t actually have a steady income. And as soon as anyone asks the question, “So what do you do?” I am reminded that we are a bit different! Though to be fair, when most people hear that we’re moving out to West Africa they think it’s very exciting!

Today we had a trip back to college (allnations) where we studied last year, and found that being “normal” there was more about being in transition, waiting to go overseas and not being exactly sure of all the details! Nice to feel just like everyone else for a change! And apart from that, it was uplifting to see old friends again and to be greeted by hundreds of smiling daffodils as we drove through the woods around the grounds.