i have made my decision!

i have made a decision. a huge one. it's going to impact my life BIG time. actually it will change everything about my life, well for the next 15 yrs that is. before i go on i will do the typical eye rolling and stop the thoughts...NO we are NOT pregnant

now. where was i?

right. i have struggled for the past 2 yrs with this situation

home school nathaniel?
public school him?
private christian school?

i have taken SO much time thinking, praying, asking, bugging people, sending emails, listening and watching

i have sat on the fence and always given the standard "i don't know" answer when asked

but i have made my choice

i have decided to home school nate

and this is why

before i go on i will add my disclaimer

what i am about to share is my own PERSONAL thoughts, they are right for us. they may not be right for you and that is wonderful! god made us all unique. the right thing for you may be different than the right thing for me. i, in NO means, way, words, thoughts want to hurt ANYONE! i am not judging you and your choice. this is my own story!

i had always planned on home schooling my 5 kids. yep, 5. but somehow my plans were not my reality :) and that's ok! i have struggled with home schooling a singleton. that was my HUGE mountain that i had to get over or home schooling 2 kids with 4-5 yrs between them (if we were to get preggers this yr that would be the scenario)

after talking to many others and researching i am ok with home schooling 1 child. i will have to be more active with activities with nate, taking him to classes...like church, music, soccer, karate, cooking, poetry, writing, automotive, community involvement etc... so he can have that kid play/friends/social life. not that we have that problem now. actually, i find myself too busy. like out everyday busy!

but the BIGGEST and i will admit it, stumbling block for me was this ME!

me time!

my time!

no school means he's with me. all. the. time. i would not get to join my friends as we drop our little achievers off at the school, then hit the gym for a work out or two, then lunch, then child free errands (that alone is just simply wonderful) then home to do the house stuff, then pick up the little academics

6 hrs of me and quiet! that is just divine. simply divine

but...

i went to mom 2 mom (it's a super, wonderful mom's group at the baptist church) and we had a discussion about high school issues which lead to our own personal stories on bad teachers. teachers that caused us stress, embarrassed, hurt, angered us. teachers that used their power to in some part, destroy parts of us

i was sitting there thinking "nope. not me. i had a great time at high school. no bad teachers there, just wonderful, wicked, fun memories...i had lots of friends, worked, great teachers, did some studying...."

driving home i was reflecting and it hit me

not high school but jr. high!

then literally, i felt like i was gonna hurl. 3 horrible, painful, tearful, sad years. i had a stock pile of bad, hateful, mean teachers. i remember actually getting sick in the bathroom, hiding in my char, praying to god that he will not call me and please! no! don't call me to the black board! i remember begging, begging god through tears to make the rapture happen, it was that bad. the memory of calling my mom on the phone. every. single. day. bawling because it was. that. bad. i remember begging my mom to home school me. just thinking about it now upsets me

so i quickly thought about my options, now knowing that public school was not an option anymore (for now that is)

private school? i looked at the price and quickly decided no. the money spent on private school could send nate to university. i personally, would rather help him there (if we can)

*there is NOTHING wrong with private schools!

so i swallowed and gulped as i kissed my freedom good bye. for the next 15yrs that is

the decision has been made

nate will be home schooled

so far, i am BEYOND thrilled with the local home school group, they offer so much!

home schooling today is nothing like home schooling i grew up knowing. nothing! not even close!

*please, please support me. please don't come at me with your disagreement. i know lots of you will not like it and that is cool! but please don't share your negativity with me. i don't need that. i know it sounds harsh and that's ok i just don't want to argue and defend my choice. chris is totally on board and that's what matters (and that he's like a flipping genius. he's the smartest person i know) seriously, chris is redic brilliant. he can teach nate math!

Posted by mel at 3:12 PM