Officialy Homeschoolers

Two weeks ago if you had asked me my opinion of homeschoolers and homeschooling, it would have been pretty narrow and very judgmental.  If you had asked me if my family would ever consider it, I would have given you 20 reasons why it wouldn't work.  And, well, now I am at a place where I get to eat a lot of words, probably be on the other end of judgment, and we get to figure out a way around all of those 20 excuses. 

For you see, we worked really hard to be given the privilege of raising our two boys.  We did not accidentally become the parents of two special needs boys with a convoluted, less than favorable, past.  We choose this path very consciously.  With that choice came a lot of risk, a whole lot of change, and ultimately a very new definition of what "adventure" would look like in this phase of our lives.  Most importantly we acknowledged what every parent must face, the fact that we must do what is best for our children. 

For four weeks, we gave normal an honest try.  What we got was reports that our kids were doing great at school, but at home we were seeing a drastically different tale.  Isaac would revert every afternoon, shouting that I was not his real mother, reliving his trauma nightly through night terrors, and went back to food hoarding, gorging and eating out of the trash.  Emerson came home daily a wreck from over stimulation and exhaustion.  His tantrums became so violent that he would punch me in the face while scratching me until he drew blood.  While my heart broke, and sanity dwindled at seeing their unhealthy responses to stress, I realized that teaching them to be confident and secure in who they are, had to become our first priority. 

Our kids were not ready for the one size fits all mainstream education.  They were not ready to drop their naps, or have several transitions throughout the day, or strong enough to have the will power to say no to things that are not good for them.  John and I knew it was not a good fit, but what next. 

We explored our options, and after 1.5 weeks we know the path we will take for this year.  We are now "those people" who home school.  Yup, try and squeeze our family into those stereotypes you have always thought of.  Funny picture, right?  This is what we have learned, there are 1000's of reasons why people do it.  I have two beautiful and talented reasons that live with me everyday. 

Off we go, into this adventure whole hearted.  We are excited to see where this leads us, our boys, and their concept of family.  I have signed the paperwork and we have made the commitment.  It is exciting to think of all of the possibilities and to be able to tailor their days to who they are.  For too long in their young lives, there were just a number, a check list, something to deal with.  For now, they get to be the priority and we get to teach them what they so desperately need to learn.