(this is the sticker we have on our van)There are so many negative comments about homeschooling, made by "well meaning" people that I've learned to let most of them roll off my back. I understand that some of the comments come from the person's desire to ask questions. They want to ask intelligent questions...they really do, but what comes out of their mouth is often ignorance incarnate.
I was that person at one time so I understand them...most of the time, and actually enjoy talking with them about their questions.
Sometimes, though, the tone of the comment is such that I know I won't get anywhere by chit chatting nicely. Sometimes the person has their mind set in stone and I just feel the urge to...Break It To Pieces!
One day I met with just such a person. I understood immediately by the tone of the speaker that she was not going to be nice at all. It was when she afforded me a backhanded complement that I, for all intents and purposes...snapped!
"Wow! You have 5 sons and you homeschool them. I really admire people who have that many children. I have one daughter and homeschooling is out of the question because she is such a social butterfly."Can you say "you flippin' snot?"
Say it with me now..."You Flippin' Snot!"
What the person was really saying ...
"You have a lot of children. Those poor things are unsocialized. My daughter has a much better personality than your children, obviously, because she likes to have friends. Your sons obviously do not want to have friends, OR you do not want them to have friends, so they are social hermits...uncivilized even...unlike MY child who is a social butterfly...floating from friend to friend in her wonderful way, being her precious "regular" schooled self because your kids cannot possibly BE social butterflies because you homeschool them. They are obviously friendless and unable to fly..socially...like my butterfly of a precious, sweet, wonderful daughter."
YES, that IS what the person meant.
My response...
"I Know what you mean! Between basketball, play dates, fencing practices and meets, taking our 15 year old to college, our younger boys to park day meet-ups, guitar lessons, weekly swimming classes, science center camps, church camps, MLG tournaments and zoo camps; I feel like I'm running a taxi service! Sometimes I wonder why I was blessed with social butterflies myself! LOL Are boys social butterflies? Maybe bees! Social Bees! That's what I've got...and a lot of time in our 15 passenger van with their friends in tow! Homeschooling? They should call it "Anywhere BUT home schooling!" LOL I sent one of our boys to school once and he couldn't understand why the teacher kept telling him to sit down and be quiet. He said, "She told me we aren't here to socialize!" I laughed my hiney off! ROFL Ah well...such is life."
I think she got the picture.
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The reason we named our blog "Unsocialized Homeschoolers" is because we hear the term so much it has become a joke.
We do not live in the horse and buggy era. We have cars. We take the kids places, invite children to our home, enroll them in sports, scouts and youth activities. Just because some people are raised in schools and find friends at school does NOT mean that school is the ONLY place to meet people.
Our blog is titled such in the hope that I won't have to answer that dog-gone question again.
Your response was priceless!
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