Thursday, September 9, 2010

Homeschooling Isn’t Just About the Kids (Though They Do Factor In…)

A Holiday Celebration With Homeschooling Friends


While we were sitting at the community pool today (for our monthly park day), one of the moms made a really interesting observation:

We, as homeschoolers, tend to become immersed in each other’s lives.

Let me backtrack a little…

Before I started homeschooling (and joined a homeschool group), the "true" friendships that I made (and kept up) were few and far between.

That’s not to say that I haven’t made some really good friends outside of my homeschool group. I have. And I cherish those friendships…

But I’m the type of person who thrives on being around people. LOTS of people. And in the past (maybe because Florida is such a transient state?) it had been really hard for me to find a lot of long-lasting friendships (with truly "genuine" people).

So when I joined the homeschool community, I gained a family. We never spent another holiday alone. We were with friends 5-6 days out of the week. Not only did my kid have a ton of friends, I suddenly had a bunch of friends as well. Our families did things together. I met dads. (And a great group dads at that!)

You see, though I was acquainted with some of the parents of the kids my daughter went to school with, it was a different situation. I saw them in passing. (I never even learned the names of most of them.)

With a tight-knit homeschool community like ours, we become a part of each others’ lives.

That’s not to say that all homeschooling adults (or kids) get along one hundred percent. We’ve had situations, disagreements, and have had issues with no foreseeable resolution.

But for the most part, we really care about each other. We look out for each other (and each other’s kids). We celebrate together. We mourn together. And yes, like a family, we spat at times.

And when a friendship doesn’t “work out,” it affects us deeply.

I guess that’s the trade-off you end up accepting. Because just like a family, sometimes you can’t live with them, but yet you truly can’t survive without them…

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