The name

My brother was filling out a job application and he had to come up with five adjectives to describe himself. Of course I was happy to help him and I told him some great ones (worthless, creepy, drunk) none of which he used. I then started thinking about how I would describe myself. My idenity is so closely tied to (ok, it is completely) being the mother to my children that all the adjectives were describing me as a mom. So I dug deeper. How would I describe myself in terms of society? Where do I fit in? The answer came rather easily. I don't. I do not fit into any social group. No matter where I am, I am different. I am a perpetual misfit. I am too conservative, too liberal, too extreme, not extreme enough, too lax, too strict and almost always lacking the required skill.
I blame a great deal of my inability to fit in on my parents, both misfits themselves. I was raised by a hippy/ intellectual/ psychologist/ anglophile mother and an ultra-conservative/ traditional Catholic/ concert going/ tattooed/ motorcycle riding father.
My siblings and I never fit in, each of us for different reasons, and all of us for coming from " that weird McElwee family".
How does someone who started out in such an unconventional place go on to live their adult life? Well, I have no idea. However, I can tell you what I am doing now, until I decide what I am really going to do. For now I am living in the country with my husband and our six unschooled children. We go to a the Latin Mass every Sunday, where we do not fit in. We go to homeschooling and parenting group's play dates, where we do not fit in. We spend lots of time at the library, where we stick out like a sore thumb. And rest assured, no matter where we are I am nursing at least one kid.
I don't mind, in fact I rather enjoy being a misfit.