Not so much, really. If you've been around the homeschooling neighbourhoods of the internet, you know that there are oodles of places that are either religious or inclusive, but people who wanted to find a secular place haven't had a home.
Yes. Everyone who can play nicely in this playground is welcome.
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Bill: Dude, it's totally, like, ironic.
Ted: No, dude, it's, like, a satire. A totally righteous satire.
Um, guys? Let me handle it.
::she clears throat and gestures dramatically::
What? You haven't heard of the Myth of the Denim Jumper? Well, gather 'round, friends, and prepare to listen to a bone-chilling tale...
Once upon a time there was a whimsical woman who decided to homeschool for academic and social reasons while she was carrying a basket of goodies to her grandmother. Since this is a fairy tale, she was naturally a comely lass, svelte and charming.
While on her way, wolves whispered to her rumors of a homeschool uniform, a mode of dress supposedly worn by all homeschooling women. She dismissed these as urban, well, rural myths. Until...
Until she attended her first homeschooling convention in the King's city.
They were everywhere! She was surrounded. Denim jumpers were all around her. There was no escape and no friendly woodcutter to rescue her.
She smiled faintly and nodded in response to everything said to her. Then she made her escape from the real world to the virtual world. "If the local forest is too dark and the paths are too hidden, at least I can go to the e-forest," she thought.
Once there, she discovered it was hard for a secular homeschooler who wasn't an unschooler and a structured homeschooler who wasn't a Christian to find an online niche, so she edited parts of herself, smoothing some of her edges. But she wasn't herself. "By golly, by gum, if I can't be myself in the e-forest, where can I?" she cried.
She decided to blaze a trail. She carved out a meadow of her own. And since she was a born nose-tweaker, she thought a satiric name would set the proper feisty tone.
And that, my friends, is why.
(Also, it amuses me and I'm paying for it.)
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Nonsense. Many people wear teeny-weeny, itsy-bitsy, yellow polka-dot bikinis.
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A tricky question with a two-part answer.
Firstly, sassiness comes from within, so it is indeed possible to be clad in the uniform and yet still have an aura of whimsy and feistiness. If you've read around on the site and feel attracted to it, go for it.
Secondly, next time you go shopping, do you want me to come with you?
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Who am I? Ah, the eternal, ageless question. The cry in the wilderness. Who is any of us, really?
Seriously? I hang my virtual hat over at Poppins Classical Academy if you want to know more.
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Dahlink, you know you can.
Wait. Can you spell? Punctuate? If you answered, "With reasonable intelligence", then, yes. Send it in and I'll see what the Magic 8 Ball tells me.
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Um, you have issues.
Which is great! It means you'll be a long-term and prolific poster here, and that's what every internet community needs.
Remember that you're building habits for you and your kids. That takes time. Don't try too much all at once. Pick a few new habits or subjects and get good at them before adding anything else.
Homeschooling is a lifestyle, so put the time into getting things comfortable. You wouldn't get up off your couch and run a marathon without putting in the time to get fit. (Well, you might, but I wouldn't and I'm sane.) It's a process.
Also, know that all of us can be wracked by guilt and fear. The good news is that by hanging around an internet message board for a while, you'll get ample opportunity to debunk all the June Cleaver-like myths that exist around homeschooling. Besides, if you're a good enough parent to worry about it, the odds are that you're a good enough parent to do a good job.
And I never roll my eyes. It causes emotional wrinkles.
