First Day of School, and Why I Love Homeschooling

Because I get to see the look of joy and pride in our 10 year old son's eyes when I praise his work habits (he actually read the introduction to his math book and... drum roll please.... followed the directions!) ....

Because I can snuggle up with our 8 yo daughter while she's working on her math book problems, and I get to put the green smiley face ("green's my favorite color, Mom, did you know that?") at the top of her page...

Because I get to see the enthusiasm with which our 17 yo daughter... a senior in high school who's been homeschooled all her life ... digs into the new year's work...

And because I can spend time with our 15 yo daughter ... a sophomore... and laugh when she cracks jokes at the expense of the coursework (commenting on the Greek chorus in Agamemnon: "Yeah, well how exactly would a group of old men all say exactly the same thing at the same time for THREE SOLID PAGES, huh, Mom?!?")

I love it.

I also love the fact that right now, and for the next 30 minutes, I have an empty house all to myself! The two youngest are at their piano lesson and the two oldest are at Tae Kwon Do.... so yippee skippee, I get to clean the house and write this post... with NO INTERRUPTIONS!

Wow. Simple pleasures, indeed.