Homeschooler's On Board....

Let me ask you this question: As a homeschooling parent, when you are out and about, in the eye of the public, do you feel extra pressure for your children to act a certain way because you do homeschool?

My mom had an appointment to get her hair cut today. Most of the time when she has appointments, I find it best to stay in the car and wait for her. It alleviates any potential for me to be pushed to the edge and on over, falling to the depths of insanity. It does get crazy in the car while we are waiting but at least it's only involving me and them...not other people. I often find myself snickering at the people who walk by shaking their heads in either disbelief or shock, noticing that my car is swaying this way and that. I can't help but think they are very fortunate that my very alive and exuberant children are in the car with me rather than out there with them.

Today, I decided to schedule an appointment for my two boys, thus taking care of their hair cutting needs while my mother was getting her's done. I was pretty proud of myself. At least, until we got there. Aaron decided from the minute we got their that he was making himself at home. Off came the boots and the socks. To the bucket of toys, he went, finding just the right one. Where does a three year old settle in with a good toy, you may ask? Right in the middle of the walkway, spread out on his belly totally unaware of anyone else around him. It was just him and the toy. As people we stepping around him and over him, I said in a firm voice with my teeth clenched but with a smile on my face so that it didn't make it obvious that I was irritated with his behavior, GET UP, Son! Of course, he looks up at me giving me a grin from ear to ear, staying right where he was at. Apparently, because I wasn't threatening in my 'yelling' voice, I must not be serious.

While all this is happening, guess what topic of conversation came up? Homeschooling, but of course! I'm not ashamed of it, in fact, I'm always ready to discuss it. However, since there are so many bad cases that most people hear about via the media, I feel like we need to represent it in a good way.

Instead, I have a three year old lying in the middle of the floor, not a care in the world and a five year old opening and shutting the door because he likes to hear the little bell that goes off every time you do this. And then, they are given suckers which makes them all the more exuberant. As I'm trying to get Kara in her car seat, I am fully aware that the other two are running back and forth (with suckers in their mouths) along the sidewalk not listening to their mother who had told them to get into the car and to not run with sucker's in their mouths.

After I got every one settled in their appropriate seats in lock down, a sense of relief flooded my soul that that was over...at least until the next time. I don't know what I would do, if every one started applauding when it was time for us to leave. Perhaps, never show my face again in public or perhaps get me an alias.

As the car was swaying back and forth between lanes, I thought to myself, what a crazy mother I am, trying to grab the sucker out of one kids mouth because he is laughingly trying to pretend he's choking and the other is trying to feed his to baby Kara. What must those people in the other cars think.....Thank Goodness, I don't have a bumper sticker on the back of my car stating that we indeed do have, unsocialized homeschoolers on board!

Why?

Quite often, I receive these cute little emails talking about the things boys do. As I read down the list of things, I often hear myself saying..yep, one of our boys has done that and then as I read on, oh, mercy...I hope they don't do that.

As I was cooking dinner tonight, I went to put the milk back in the fridge. From behind me I heard a little cry. I turned around to find Ryan jumping up and down, yelping that his tongue hurt. I asked him what happened and he replied with.....I licked the pan with my tongue. It took a moment for that to sink in and then I realized that the sucker was going full force on the burner. I grabbed some ice and put it into the cup for him to rest his tongue on.

The only question that keeps running through my mind this evening as the whimpering continues is this: What ever possess a boy like Ryan to give that one a try???

Number 5

Kara is nine months old now. I think she has the idea that being number five means that she surely is five. I know when I look at her that something else is going on behind those adorable little blue eyes. I think she is thinking about how to create world peace or perhaps even is thinking about molecular science. But then, it could be she is just contemplating her next escape plan from the mesh netting that is holding her back from exploring more of the house.

When you make eye contact with her, her face lights up like the sunshine of the morning and she starts swinging her arms up and down letting you know that she is excited as can be. This past week, she decided that she would choose one day to accomplish the art of going from the crawling position to the sitting up position and then back down to the crawling position. She figured out how to get one knee in front of the other and much to her pleasure, if she kept doing that, it would take her right to the very thing that caught her fancy. She also figured out that if you wouldn't pay attention to her sitting there in her crib or playpen, perhaps she would catch your eye, if she stood up.

And then there was the mom..mom..mom..mom. If any of the previous things didn't bring your attention about face, surely those little words would grab at mommom's heart. She was right...