Because most philosophies that frown on reproduction don't survive.

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Bartleby the Homeschooler

Lotsa people going back to school right now, sharing pix of first day outfits and curriculum, giving tips on educational philosophies and life hacks, so here's my true confession: I haven't done any school planning yet. I have sent a child to college, and I have a four-year-old who hasn't started formal education yet, which commits me for another fourteen (14) years. I will be 54 by the time baby turns 18. I will have spent, by that point, almost 30 years overseeing the education of children. At the moment, I am checked out. I would prefer not to.

Fourteen more years. I guess you could call it a mid-school crisis, if you consider that my sophomore is starting her fourteenth year of education. I'll probably have grandchildren by the time I'm done homeschooling. I will be old then, and I'm already old now, and I would prefer not to.

Of course I'm going to do it. Of course we'll read and write this year, and do some math, and watch some Shakespeare, and finish reading Fellowship of the Ring. Of course I'll teach another year of religion class. Of course I'll text with my sophomore about acting class, and help my 12th-grader through college admissions, and my 10th-grader through scheduling, and my 8th-grader through Confirmation prep, and my 6th-grader through her intensive dyslexia reading program, and my 2nd-grader through multiplication, and my 4year-old through whatever it is that 4 year-old dudes do. Of course it will all get done, as it has year after year after year. Just, right now, I would prefer not to.

2 comments:

entropy said...

Oh, we are in the same place right now, friend.

Julia said...

All I can say is that God beat the "I can't take this anymore!" out of me. I only did 18 years of homeschooling (well, also had multiple financial crises and kids with severe mental health issues) and while it's true fried is fried, there are as many varieties of fried as Dante had versions of hell. It all depends on how God is asking you to grow. There is a certain point one reaches which is the faith equivalent of the teen, "WHATEVER..." and that, for me, was a whole new trajectory of surrender. Not easy. But fruitful.

Strongly recommend this: https://youtu.be/FnnWEn_rPdw