No offense to all the other moms I know, but homeschooling moms are just the coolest. I just got back from the monthly homeschooling support group at the Educational Resource Center, and it’s enough to make you want to go even if you don’t homeschool.
In fact, some moms who turn up actually aren’t homeschooling…yet…or anymore.
But as I’ve said before, homeschooling is an attitude thing. Some families live a homeschooling lifestyle even though they send their kids to school. They’re the ones who do cool things with their kids instead of parking them in front of the TV. (Well, OK, homeschooling parents do the parking thing sometimes…) They’re the parents who get excited when their kids are learning something that they loved doing when they were kids. Homeschooling is a frame of mind more than a lifestyle choice.
The thing about hanging out with homeschooling moms is, I’m amazed at how you can get a bunch of outspoken, funny, smart, interesting women into a room, and they can talk and laugh, and they don’t necessarily agree about everything, but everyone has a great time. Two thumbs up.
When I was younger, I found that I kept finding myself in situations where I had to get along with insipid people. They were people who were afraid of having opinions that might upset someone else. They were people who worried about pantylines and said things like, “If you change the way you smile, you won’t get crow’s feet around your eyes.” They were people who liked books in which they knew what was going to happen.
As I’ve gone through life, I’ve come to appreciate that those people can be treated with kindness and respect, but I don’t have to choose to be with them. I want to be with the people who have something to say, even if I disagree with it. I want to be with people who know lots about things that I don’t know about. I want them to teach me! Or I just want to be amazed at what they know. I want to hear about the amazing things their kids are doing, because their kids are like them. I want to feel inspired enough by the people I spend time with that I stay up past my bedtime so that I can write about them.
And about this staying up past my bedtime…
Ever since I had kids, I have become very jealous of my sleep time. Occasionally my husband wants to go “out,” like to a real show where the opening act starts at 9 and the headliners get on…sometime way after my bedtime. It takes a lot to get me out of the house for that.
You mean, I won’t get enough sleep? Oh, I don’t know, can’t you go with one of your friends?
There are two times when I am completely by myself: on my morning walk, when I can think and not be interrupted except by an occasional hello to another person out in the morning, and at night, when I can be alone with my dreams. Of course, my kids probably get in there a lot, but I usually can’t remember in the morning. I haven’t had any obsessive homeschooling dreams yet.
We were talking about great ideas that come from dreams at the homeschooling support group tonight. We were all sure that we probably have great ideas come to us, but as for me, I’m too jealous of my sleep time to interrupt it to write things down. I used to wake at night and write my profound thoughts. I have those notebooks somewhere. These days I feel like I’m chasing behind life, trying to hang onto its coattails.
At least I’m not having to spend time with insipid people. Thank you, homeschooling moms of Santa Cruz, for being so funny, wise, and opinionated. You kept me up past my bedtime, which something it’s pretty hard to do.
