Close your eyes. Now, quick, what pops into your head when I say "homeschool mom?"
Whatever it was, I am pretty certain I am not
that homeschool mom.
I wear jeans, put on make-up (
if I'm leaving the house), and swim in mixed company. My dyed hair has not been in a bun since my second grade ballet recital. Said ballet recital was probably the last time I wore hose, too.
I hate to cook, clean and do most other things that are traditionally considered what a "good mom" likes to do. My family does not garden or eat only organic/raw/gluten-free/sugar-free foods. Our meals are only sometimes homemade, and if I had it my way, we would eat Pizza Hut at least eight times a week. That, or have a personal, on-demand chef.
My floors are not swept twice a day and the laundry pile is often taller than the children. Sometimes, it's taller than the children's father! Dusting has become a quarterly chore and my backyard will never get landscaped.
I'm not crafty. I can't sew on buttons that last more than a week. Sewing machines make me more nervous than a rat in a snake cage. I've never made anything more complicated than the pillows Mrs. Wallace insisted I put together in seventh grade home economics. I've dabbled in scrapbooking, but even that has become too daunting a task for me lately. My 2009 birthday gift certificate to our local scrapping store is still in my wallet, unused.
Our lives are not run on a color-coded three-ring binder schedule. We don't get up before dawn and milk cows or feed chickens. We watch too many movies and play a lot of video games. My kids are often up until way past traditional bedtimes and don't always remember to say "please" and "thank you."
My kids don't play the cello, violin or even piano. They don't speak Latin, Spanish or anything other than our Midwest version of English. They don't study quantum physics or underwater basket weaving.
It's not that I think any of the above things are bad. Heck, I'd love to be crafty and have an immaculate house. There are a ton of skirt and bun wearing women out there who are amazing. I wish we ate healthier and that I could make my own curtains. But I will never make my own curtains. I am not
that homeschool mom. It's just not who I am.
But I am the homeschool mom that spends hours choosing just the right projects for her kids. I read them Scripture. I taxi them from one activity to the other and make sure they are well-rounded, social people. Four times a year, I make the most rockin' birthday cakes imaginable. I facilitate an environment where they can learn, not just academics, but to get along with each other, to be home-builders, and to be followers of Christ. I am
that homeschool mom. And I'm perfectly okay with that.
