[Adventures] In Going Against the Norm

[Adventure 76]

People have been commenting lately more than ever that my family goes against the norm. What is the norm, anyway? 

The norm in my family is different than the norm on my street, which may be different from the norm in in my neighborhood, which may be different from the norm in my city or my state. 

In my family, no one needs to be in the closet. Queer is the norm. Out of the seven (or eight, or nine) of us, only one person is cisgender and straight. One of my children announced from the time he could talk (which wasn't until they were three and a half) that she wasn't sure if he was a boy or a girl. Confused? This child identifies as pangender - identifying as all genders at once. He, she, and they pronouns all fit this child. 

In our house, being neurodivergent and/or having a chronic illness is the norm. We have three autistic people in our household; at least two people with a genetic disorder; and several people with chronic illnesses including mental illnesses. 

In our lives, unschooling and theater and gaming and art and music and laughter are the norm. Children emerge from their rooms with self-inflicted (or sibling-inflicted) special effects makeup convincing enough to fool their mother. Spending times together as a family is the norm - as is hermiting ourselves in our rooms some days. Doing things in our own way, having our own style, and utilizing rooms in our house according to need and function rather than what they're traditionally used for is normal.

When my children were little, breastfeeding, bedsharing, babywearing, natural weaning, cloth diapering, homebirthing, and elimination communication were ordinary things. 

In our family, it's a common for someone to be dying their hair and/or shaving their head (or part of it or their sibling's head) at any time of day or night. We've even gotten tattoos in the comfort of our own home. 

In our house you'll find completely normal in-our-house kinds of things like a dissection kit, pride flags, a Christmas/Birthday/Halloween/Whatever tree, and a couch made out of a minivan seat.

Ok...we're a bunch of not normal people, but who wants to be normal, whatever that is?