what is up with you world!? are you STILL confused about what homeschooling is? do you STILL wonder if children can turn out well without going through 'the system'?
i can't believe the number of questions i've had lately about it. maybe because s is entering 9th grade and therefore i'm not qualified to teach her anymore? or because everyone is so excited BY LAW to teach their kids about all the gay persons in history they can't understand why i don't want to? or maybe it's that oft mentioned SOCIALIZATION fear. maybe my girls won't know who justin bieber is! (too late for that). maybe they won't know what to do if someone bullies them when they're 20. maybe they'll be awkward when they talk to kids of the opposite sex! (also too late. oh well!)
nice, well meaning people just ask the most ridiculous questions. i should laugh, it's so ridiculous! the last one was 'won't they miss out on high school events?' is it necessary to take part in these events? is it impossible to take part if one is not enrolled? is there some intrinsic value to these events that will affect my children's future if they don't?
let me not forget those persons who wonder how i can 'stand to be around my kids all day' and 'don't know how i manage'. as the litigator says, harshly but sometimes justifiably, maybe they should have gotten a dog instead. (he IS more cynical than i am)
these are actual, true to life comments that i meet on a regular basis. right now, it's almost daily. i don't expect others to live life the way i do. i respect anyone who investigates homeschooling and decides it is not for them. i don't respect or even want to listen to someone who ignorantly wonders how my kids will manage without a diploma. because, you know, progress was never really made until the government created a plan for all children to become identical and fear the unfamiliar.
but i don't know if that's better or worse than someone who treats me like some kind of perfect being on a pedestal. i have no more to learn! you may ask me and i may deign to answer your child rearing questions! you may only choose a different path if you have first become perfect!
i'm not special. i'm not wise. i'm not more patient than you. i am just willing to do whatever it takes to fulfill my responsibilities as a mother. and to my mind that includes the education and training of their unformed and so easily shaped minds. why would i give that privilege to a stranger? why would i allow someone else the joy of seeing the black marks on the page turn into words that they can speak? why would i miss the torrent of facts that fill the air when they discover a new, fascinating interest? how could i loose the chance to selfishly soak in their hugs, their wondrous stories, their labors over math?
i look at how fast 14 years have passed since i became a mother, and i know for the rest of my life i will still desire to experience that again. it has been the most precious, most challenging, most soul-searching experience and even when i'm just DONE with it i still relish it.
i want to say OUT LOUD but i never do: think a little. i have infinite abilities if only i apply myself. i will hold my children close and keep them protected from the world that seeks to tear them apart for as long as necessary. i will feed their minds with all the good things that society seems to have forgotten. i will teach them that it is better to think for oneself than to follow the rest of the crowd. i will show by example and effort that the only responsibility we have is to our God and His expectations of us. especially when the choice is between my conscience and the prom.
