Good Friends

Today we spent the entire day with good friends at their house. These are friends that we see once every few months but the visits are wonderful and we never seem to keep it shorter than 5 or 6 hours. The kids do wonderfully together - even Sirah did not nap all day and somehow never got grumpy! The mother and I just get along very well and we can always find things to talk about to fill the time. Today we spent much of the time talking about homeschooling and answering some of the tough questions for her. Homeschooling is an option that might consider though their son is currently in public school, they are investigating the options and considering it as a possibility. So she played devil's advocate and I answered question after question the best I could. I did not mind, I actually enjoyed it - it really depends on who is asking, how they ask and why they ask on how much I feel like responding.

Like many of the "different" or non-mainstream choices that Serona and I have made I have grown a thick skin about the criticisms of homeschooling and understand that many people have already made up their minds and nothing I say or do will change their minds. Still I will share our reasons and I will share that I am convinced we are making the right decision for our family at this time. As always I put the best foot forward about homeschooling but don't deny the challenges, risks and difficulties but when the criticisms come I always ask if they really believe those things about my kids and our particular family and I have yet to get a yes. Of course some people may be unwilling to offend me or say so but I believe when they look at our family they see the good that homeschooling has brought it and they back off. The reality is if homeschooling is done well it is hard to even compare it to public schooling as they are apples and oranges. People will not know the end results and benefits for years but they can see many positive attributes my children possess now, while not all are attributable to homeschooling some are. Keep up the great work!

Peace,
Tenn