My husband and I don’t discuss homeschooling much. We just have an understanding about it. It is something we do, and we live our lives around it. It is good; and that is that. A recent rare discussion however enlightened me on some of the things people think about homeschooling that I hadn’t even realized. Apparently he discusses homeschooling often with co-workers and clients, and they say the darndest things to him.
One thing that these corporate type people have said to my husband is that that homeschool parents are strange. Basically, they just find us creepy. The reason we are seen as so odd is that they can’t understand why any adult would want to spend so much time with their own kids. Yeah. I was surprised too.
My question for them is that if you aren’t going to be close to the people you brought into this world, then who are you going to be close to? Good relationships begin in the home. Closeness to your own kids is not strange. Alienation from your kids, though common, is definitely problematic. Furthermore, if you ignore your kids until they are adults, hoping to forge a good relationship then, chances are, you will be out of luck.
Now don’t get me wrong. There are certainly days when I need a mental health break from my kids. When they were younger, I found myself starved for adult conversation, which I referred to as “big people talk”, and would keep my husband awake until the wee hours of the night just chatting. Now, I take several hours a day an dto to my quiet space to read and write. My kids, now teens also need as much space as I do. Still, just a few hours away from them leaves me wanting to plop on the couch between them, and talk about interesting subjects and laugh over silly cartoons.
Does that make me strange? If so, then I will wear the banner proudly.
I had a running joke with my mother, who also found me odd (and she would know, she was a school teachers and had access to dozens of kids every day). She would say I was strange or odd and I would reply, maybe I’m the one who’s normal, and everyone else is strange.
Read: Shouldn’t Kids Be Exposed to Different Teachers?
Can Homeschoolers Be Good Citizens?
If you liked this you should also read my blogs at the home blog, the parents blog, and the frugal blog. You can read my recent posts here.