I have been a Stay At Home Mom (SAHM) for almost 13 years...in fact, I stopped working about a week before Sierra was born and in about a week she turns 13, so let's just say I have been a SAHM for 13 years.  It has been the most rewarding part of my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. 

However, I have had to deal with a lot of speculation from others as I have chosen the life of a SAHM and than, later,  as a Homeschooler.  It is amazing how many people have this view what we, in this profession, do on a daily basis.

Now, I cannot speak for other SAHMs, but I know for me, if I was anything like the world view of a SAHM was, I would slowly pull my hair out, go into a corner, suck my thumb and have a breakdown.  Soap operas are not my thing.  I love chocolate, though I do not think I have ever had a bon bon....but any chocolate eating I do is done on the go.  Talk shows are so boring and I simply cannot STAND Oprah Winfrey.  I wish I had time to sit....I would love to curl up on the couch with a good book everyday...I wish I had time to nap.

As a SAHM, I tend to socialize in SAHM circles.  I know several women who have chosen to stay home with their kids instead of going to work in the work force.  Not a one of them is a bon bon eating, Oprah watching, living the high/lazy life woman.  Talk about a job that taxes you mentally, physically, and emotionally.  This is no 40 hour per week job.  There is no one looking over your shoulder (which is good).  There are no promotions, bonuses (unless you count hugs and kisses...which I do).  Vacation time is spent on the job.  It never ends...even when you get away for a few hours or even a weekend, it is still a part of you and though you are not physically there, you are there in every other way.

One of the things that would annoy me was a friend of mine would text and call from her job expecting me to have all the time in the world to look something up for her...to research things like hair styles for her or figure out traffic or whatever and I would be in the middle of doing whatever it was I needed to do at home or out of the home.  She would say, "you're the only one I know who isn't doing anything".  Really??  Is that how people "on the outside" view us?  Are we just not doing anything?

Honestly, when Sierra was young, like newborn status, I became that hypersensitive mom who didn't want her baby exposed to germs, sunlight, dust, pollen, bugs, etc.  So, I DID become that soap opera, couch sitting mama for a few months.  No one I knew was a mom...I was the first in my group of friends to have a baby.  While I was at home, all of my friends were working.  I became very involved in Nikki and Victor's lives (Young and the Restless), Bo and Hope (Days of Our Lives), in the relational issues of shows like Rikki Lake.  But, one day I opened a door and let the sunlight come in and my baby didn't shrivel up.  I decided to venture forth into the world as a mother with a baby and I discovered a whole new world laying in wait for us.  My eyes were opened and life was forever changed into a flurry of activity for mom and baby.  With a new baby, 5 1/2 years later, life became busier and fuller.

Now, as a homeschooler, I have a new flurry of speculation.  We are unsocialized home bodies where education rules our world and is contained in the walls of our home.  Sometimes I wish this were partly true, though honestly I am loving the exact opposite.  Life has become more of a flurry of activity than ever before.  We do spend time at home doing the majority of school work, but often school takes us out of the home...whether it be for field trips or social activities or whatever, we are constantly on the go.  Life has become a classroom and school never ends.

But, that same friend from before assumes that I have even more time on my hands now.  She calls and texts and asks me to look something up...I can't, I am out doing things.  Later, have you done it yet?  No, I am still not home.  When I am together with my fellow homeschool educators, a primary topic of conversation is the pure exhaustion we each have as we try to fit it all in everyday.  When you open your classroom up to the world, you find yourself open and willing to experience it more and more.  And than you fit in the daily activities and by 10 o'clock at night, you collapse in bed with satisfaction....knowing that your day is complete....without a bon bon passing your lips or your brain cells being killed slowly by bad television programming. 

For many, May means the end of school.  Kids get anxious...teachers get more anxious.  Finals are coming up for older kids and for younger, a flurry of end of the year activities like parties and such.  The pool is calling their names and so is freedom....ah, freedom.  I remember all to well what it felt like to reach the end of another school year and know that in just days/hours/minutes school would be no more for 3 months.  Glorious.

For homeschoolers, though, summer may or may not be a time for a break.  It could be just another school day.  Each homeschool family comes up with their own schedule.  Most homeschoolers I know stick with their local school district's calendar...I'm not sure why?  Maybe they like having a beginning and an end...having someone else figure out that part of the schooling since, as a teacher, principal, counselor, superintendent, etc, they have to come up with everything else.  I also know several homeschool families that opt to do school year round...incorporating a flexibility to take extra long weekends here and there and travel on a whim...reducing the stress of getting a full year's work in a set time frame or having their kids work ahead and stay ahead.  Being in the south Texas area, I know other homeschoolers that do a typical school year appoach, but flip the break time...summer do school, winter extended break.  This is pretty smart where we live as summer is always so hot, it is hard to go out and do anything...so why not do school in the cool air conditioned home in the summer and than in the winter when the temperatures are better, take a break where the kids can actually enjoy the outdoors.

I think it's great that there is such a flexibility in this.  When my daughter was in public school (my son was still too young), we decided we wanted to go to Disney World.  We didn't want to go in the summer...going to a major theme park when it is EXCRUTIATINGLY hot with TONS of people just sounded HORRIFIC!!  Our daughter was in 4th grade and we weighed out her responsibilities with a really great family vacation experience and decided that we were going for it...we would go to Disney World in February!!  BOY, did I get a talking to by some friends...so legalistic in their views of school...my daughter's teachers were less offended by our vacation than some (by some I mean one) friends were.  Her teacher's gave me some school work to do with Sierra on our trip and wished us great fun.  I was berated and made to feel guilty that I wanted to give my kids a fantastic experience on this vacation...and it was the best trip we have ever had.  It was not too hot, it was not too crowded, and our kids had the most memorable time....a time they talk about still today.

So, in thinking about how our school year will go, I tend to be more in the camp of the year round school....long breaks in between.  The advantages to taking vacations in the fall and winter months are great...off season pricing is a key benefit...not to mention the reduction in crowds.  The fact that summers are so hot in so many areas is another benefit.  I do not fall in the camp so much on doing school all year, but I do believe in not stressing out too much and if we need to get some school done in June in order to have fun in January, than so be it.  School shouldn't be a stresser...trying to jam it all in in a few months time is not our goal.  Getting what needs to get done, done is our goal and we do get it done in a time frame...to some point.  Obviously, what needs to be done needs to be done....I can't have Sierra taking 2 years to get 7th grade done, but without all the pressure, she can get the work done without making mistakes because she is working against a clock.

So, this summer, activities are calling our names...and we will certainly be participating in a lot of your typical summer activities:  beach, pool, mall, movies, bowling, etc......but we may be getting an hour or two of school done here and there, and that is ok.  When the next "school year" begins, we won't need to review after a summer's worth of inactivity...we can dive right in!!

Due to a recommendation by a friend, I recently decided to watch this documentary on Netflix Instant Watch called "Waiting for Superman".  It was a fairly interesting look into the public school system.  The guy who made the documentary stated that in the 1990s, he had made a documentary on the public school system in a favorable light, but that he felt that he must revisit the subject and discovered that it had dwindled significantly since his last report.

This documentary was somewhat enlightening, but I thought it was too narrow a look into the system, though I agree that it is flawed.  For one, he followed only a few kids from specific inner-city schools.  He looked at schools in inner-city New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles.  I am not sure this gives a fully accurate look into the public school system since, let's face it, our country is huge and most Americans do not live in the inner-city or even anywhere near any sort of metropolitan city.  Oh, he would state facts about where the worst schools in the country can be found, but his focus mainly stayed on these few students, their families, and the poor school system they were in.

He said, quite inaccurately, that the only choices anyone has where school is concerned is public or private and most cannot afford private.  Homeschooling was never brought up.  He said that too often, a family is in a bad school district, or is zoned to the bad school in a good school district and cannot afford to enroll their kids into the private school system.  Of course, we know, that this is not the only option.  Homeschooling is a viable option and, in most cases, the best choice.

The documentary should have been titled simply "Charter Schools".  Each one of the families mentioned were trying to get their kids into one charter school or another.  Because of the long list of families that want their kids enrolled in these schools, charter schools often have to hold lotteries to see who will make it in and who will not.  It was heartbreaking to listen to these families  sad tales of not wanting their kids in these schools that are violent and poor.

One interesting story was the one and only school that was a school in suburbia.  The narrator talked about this one school in Colorado which is considered one of the best in the nation.  He spoke about how it is often, in these school situations, where a student who is above or below average gets all the attention while the middle child will just be scooted along.  This was a scenario I knew all too well as my daughter does fall into this category and was, indeed, pushed along.  She passed all her schoolwork and state tests and it did not seem to matter whether or not she understood what she was supposed to be learning. 

I like the title of this documentary..."Waiting for Superman".  Maybe the Superman your kids are waiting for can be found in your own bathroom mirror.  You can be Superman.  The education you provide can be well above the highest school standards, the safety you provide is better than any security guard, the foundation and self confidence you can instill is, obviously, the highest quality.  Our children look to us...instead of looking for someone else, maybe the answer is to look to yourself.

The main point is, though, that Superman stares back at me everytime I look in the mirror....or even better...everytime I look in my kid's eyes.  They will be the first to tell you how much they love to be homeschooled and they did experience the fine public education system. 

If you are a homeschooler or on facebook, you have likely seen this video.  It bears a repeat viewing and was the perfect video for me to use to test out the YouTube element on this blog site!!  Enjoy!