That 'must be nice' phrase needs to be banished from people's mouths. I can't stand it. We all make choices in life and our family's choice was to homeschool our son. Now, that doesn't come without sacrifices, but we wouldn't have done it any other way.
When you see a homeschool family at the beach or the mountains or Washington, D.C., yes, they're having fun but they're also learning. Every day is a lesson. Life is our curriculum and the world is our classroom.
Does that mean that our laundry is always folded, dinner's on the table promptly at 5pm, and the bathrooms are spotless.
NO.
Does that mean that us homeschool moms gather together every other week for a wine playdate to regain some of our sanity and unload our frustrations?
YES.
Just because I don't post every single lesson Logan is doing doesn't mean he didn't school that day. He is very independent in his school work and I'm very blessed and lucky for that.
There are many days I feel I'm living a double life. Maybe a triple life, even. Homeschool mom vs. Author vs Wife. My brain is tugged a hundred different directions at any given moment. The guilt I feel is excruciating. When I'm working on a book I feel that I'm neglecting my family and house. When I'm scrubbing toilets, I feel like I should be writing. But publishing books don't make you an instant millionaire. Even when signed with a publishing house, I had to pay out money for shipping and advertisement (not to Montlake). Money that I could have put toward Logan's curriculum.
Guilt.
More guilt.
Shove more guilt down my throat with a side of guilt.
Now this is my life and I don't judge others. They choose to do what they do each and every day and who am I to say that's wrong. Not my job. But what I don't appreciate is people doing that to me. I reign in my snarkiness when someone posts something on my Facebook page about 'it must be nice'. I don't want to be disrespectful, but I have my moments when it's been a tough day and I'm over people's drama and sour words.
No matter the chaos in my life, I chose it. Each week I stop and analyze what I'm doing. I love writing my twisted dark fiction books and I will continue on with the Deadly Series but Logan's story, our family's story is what pulls at my heart and soul daily. Of course, Logan equates that to literature studies;-)
Our typical homeschool week equates to a chicken with it's head cut off. With peppered in, field trips, middle school hang outs, sleepovers, museum classes, gaming chill time, cooking class--you get the point.
The chaos will be amplified once freshman year begins.
I don't know what my writing schedule will look like, but Logan's education will always be #1 and if that means the third book in the series doesn't even become a title page of my Word document until autumn, so be it.
Cloning would come in handy. I keep telling Logan to hurry up and build his machine for that. Slacker.
The Quirky Mustache's Facebook page has blown up and Logan is loving it. Please show your love and like the page. We will have some giveaways very soon and snippets from our book, Mom, I know I'm Different.
Until the next post, keep it quirky!
People are so judgemental about things they know nothing about. My new least favorite question when people find out I'm homeschooling is 'do you have a teaching degree'. Makes me want to punch them in the throat. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteCouldn't agree more. I've seen and been apart of the public school system and I have serious concerns about some.
DeleteI've never home schooled my children, but I give a lot of credit to those who do. It takes a lot to make a decision like that and whether we choose to homeschool, or not, work outside the home, or not, we need to respect each other and not judge people based on ignorance and preconceived notions.
ReplyDeleteAnd as far as having a teaching degree, I can't even count how many times my kids have come home and told me something their teacher told them that was flat out wrong!