Charlie Brown Wasn't Homeschooled, so WHY do I?

"Why do I a homeschool?"
There go the sweatglands. Take a deep breath. STALL.
The question confuses me.

Is the asker just making small talk? Are they looking for a debate?
If they REALLY want to know...how many answers can I give before...
WARNING: Asking me about homeschooling can be dangerous! If you don't want a 30 minute spastic flurry of excited words, DO NOT ACT INTERESTED - actually, don't even make eye-contact. It's rare that someone climbs into that world with me - so when they do, Manic Becky takes over and smothers them with information until their eyes glaze over and they are forced to find their "happy place" far, far away.

Maybe I'll just blog a few of the reasons we homeschool and point people to this post in the future when my antiperspirant starts to fail...


THIS is why we homeschool.
 (The picture is worth 1000 words, yet I wrote 1000 more words for the sake of "clarity".) 

*sidenote* The following list is written in bullet-point format so you can "get the gist" without reading all the details. My husband has informed me that this is necessary if I desire men to read (and/or comprehend) anything I write - ever. (I now bullet-point all emails to him, including love letters.)

Part of the "WHY":

1. My husband is in sales.  No, we're not trying to produce little salesmen educated in the fine art of storytelling and winning smiles (although it IS happening, see photo at end of blog). Sales just means traveling, and "My Man" promised not to be an absent father - so he hauls his crew along whenever possible (not an easy task if the kiddos are in "normal" school).
2. I am a control freak. Once my oldest son turned 5 and started UNDERSTANDING the "wisdom" I was pouring into him...I wasn't willing to send him away. I had YEARS worth of good stuff to tell him (and since I'd go toe to toe with my PASTOR on occasion, I doubted that any unsuspecting kindergarten teacher was going to warp my kids in EXACTLY the perfect way to suit my tastes.) I've often said: "If someone's gonna mess 'em up, I want no one to blame but myself." (This has come back to bite me often when I've looked at my offspring and cried, "What have I done?")
3. Jesus made me do it. I'm sure this is what some people expect to hear, so here ya go. I do feel like I was "meant" to homeschool...now. I didn't want to homeschool at first ("The house will NEVER be empty, or quiet...or clean."), but my husband encouraged me to give it a try. We did a trial year for kindergarten - and I was blessed with all-day-long-conversations which started with "Why Mama?" and ended with, "Because God..." Whether it's Math or Science or English, I get to point my boys to Christ and show them how God's plan has purpose: their struggles have purpose, their questions have purpose, Cottonwood trees have purpose (although I'm REALLY not sure what their purpose is - except to teach me how to be thankful for life even while I'm sneezing or have sticky seeds adhered to my carpet.)
4. I get to sleep with the superintendent. Okay, this isn't an actual reason I homeschool, but it IS a perk. I get major input on snow days, holidays, field trips, curriculum and even school lunches (and I don't have to break any Biblical laws to do it). Oh, I could list a WHOLE LOAD of perks that come along with homeschooling...wait a second, are your eyes starting to glaze?

I hope you noticed that I did NOT mention negatives about the public school. My kids actually take music and gym classes at our local elementary school, and we LOVE the way they allow us to be involved in talent shows, holiday parties, and state testing.
I do not look down upon, judge or criticize those who send their kids to the public school. I used to teach in the public school, and on particularly hard days, I have been known to daydream about my children being taught...far away...by somebody else...while I put my feet up and read a book for ENJOYMENT rather than research. *shaking head* I'm sorry, wandered a bit there.
Seriously, I really enjoy our current schooling situation - and when it comes to
education, I'm ALWAYS open to friendly discussions. I enjoy a dialogue where we can love, respect and encourage each other on this journey - even if we do things "differently". All parents have a daunting chore ahead of them, and we need all the support we can get. So remember, I got your back.

Now, I'd better get going. I'm pretty sure my boys have started reading Calvin and Hobbes rather than doing math. Or maybe they are done with math, but their teacher was a bit distracted...

Salesmen? Spies? Jake and Elwood?
My boys (with their winning smiles).

*This blog was picked for the  Homeschool Showcase at Weird Unsocialized Homeschoolers