My Weird Homeschooler

My daughter's favorite reply to other people's snide comments about her differences is, "It's because I am homeschooled."

To be honest, in the beginning my  Husband and I were really worried about how S would handle the constant scrutiny and "opinions" from others about being homeschooled. She is a sensitive child, so there is no telling how she will handle a situation sometimes. (Usually with tears.) SO, we did what any other good parent would do, and we made fun of her from the start.

Ha Ha Ha Ha. No seriously though, we did...So she grew up learning that when people say things like, "You are really odd," it is something to laugh about, as she knows, it is a positive thing. When people say something about her crazy sense of style, she says, "It's because I'm homeschooled." When people comment on her going to bed late and waking up late, "It's because I'm homeschooled." When somebody stares at her because she busts out singing like nobody is watching her, "What? I'm homeschooled!"

It is a running joke at our house that when we started homeschooling S, we all became "weird homeschoolers." (We definitely have our quirks. J is a nerd in every sense of the word. And I am "one of those Moms" who gets excited to swap recipes and talk all about the essential oil seminar coming up.) We like it that way though.

When I watch S spending her days doing what she enjoys-putting in 4 grueling hours decorating a Valentine box, making Play Doh clothes for her dolls, volunteering, drawing pictures and preparing for an "art gallery," hiking...all the while singing and walking around and getting out energy, being her weird homeschooled self...I smile. I think, I don't know what I would do if she were not a "weird, unsocialized, homeschooler."

And that is why nothing makes me smile more when she takes pride in her "label" and says, with a giant smile on her face, "Yep! I do. Because I am homeschooled!"