Friday, October 29, 2010

Random Musings about Home Schooling

For some reason, when I think of a Homeschooling Mom, two stereotypes come to mind.

Stereotype #1: The H.M. (Homeschooling Mom, or Her Majesty, whichever you prefer, they are interchangeable) who never leaves the house, has a vast wardrobe of sweatpants, whose children always look as though they're dressed for the wrong decade, and seems to have a general air of frenzied malaise about her.

Stereotype #2: The H.M. who is dressed in perpetually clean clothing and whose children are signed up for soccer, basketball, ballet, and who volunteer several hours a week for worthy charities, all the while keeping housework organized and completed and cooking healthy and delicious meals.  She spends quality time with her children, making learning a fun and enjoyable part of their lives, as their sparkling little eyes watch in delight as she enlightens them about the Greek philosophers and the reason Alfred the Great was great.

As far as I can tell, I am neither.

There are moments when I'm so incredibly proud that my kids can conjugate the future tense of the Lain verb amo, followed by moments of abject shame in which my son decides to relate the story of David and Bathsheeba as his favorite Bible story to the rest of his homeschooling group.  Sometimes I feel like the coolest mom when we study the ancient Celtic civilization and are able to paint our faces blue and don Celtic war brooches and run screaming through the house like the barbarians we are.  The next moment, I'm regretting my loss of temper as my little children are learning at the speed of little children when I want them to learn at adult speed so that I can get done so I can start laundry and dinner and cleaning and bathtime and sweeping the floor and vacuuming and . . . .

- - - - -

I have gone to look for myself.  If I should return before I get back, please keep me here.

1 comment:

Rachel said...

I think your feelings represent most of us. If any of us felt like we had it together all the time, it'd be a lie. And if we felt like we never had it together, we'd go insane. I'm with you!