School!

Okay, I couldn't find the actual post, but I'm pretty darned sure that despite all his enthusiasm on the subject, big bro actually conceded more than once that homeschooling is not for everybody. So I know he'll forgive me for this:

WHOOPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

School starts at the end of this month. Ben finally gets to start kindergarten, and we're all completely excited over here.

I'm excited for your standard selfish reasons: one kid out of the house for five hours each day! That brings me down to two little ones in the house, and with Joseph still taking naps, that means I get some one-on-one time with Josh, which he really needs and I'm really looking forward to. I'll start him on my half-baked home preschooling that worked so well for Ben. Also, he tends to be much better behaved when he has less competition for attention. I'm REALLY looking forward to that. And maybe, just maybe, I can get back to the sweet sweet luxury of a daily shower. Dare to dream, Amy, dare to dream.

But I'm also excited just thinking about all Ben has to look forward to. Friends, and recess, and Parents Night, and crafts like I can't provide for him around here (he's been actively protesting my Play-Doh ban for well over a year now). Just getting him registered has been so much fun. Elementary school, for all scary reports to the contrary, still looks and smells exactly the same. And THAT gets me all excited, too. I loved elementary school (Junior High I hated and High school just always felt like a ridiculous barrier to real life). I loved the back-to-school shopping blitz and the anticipation of seeing who your new teacher and classmates would be and picking the First Day Outfit. Turns out I still enjoy all that.

Ben's excited for all your standard kid reasons. He loves to learn, he'll get to play with clay FINALLY, he can't wait to meet his teacher, he's thrilled at the prospect of a little freedom from the ol' apron strings. He's already warned me that although I can come to school with him the first day (and that concession only due to there being a special orientation meeting for parents), that is to be the LAST time. "No MORE after that, Mommy," were his exact words. When I told him I'd be leaving after the meeting on that first day, the look of relief on his face was laughable.

My thinking behind the whole homeschool v. public school is this:

1) It really isn't for everybody. Being a stay-at-home mom isn't for everybody either, although I've enjoyed it and am pretty decent at it. But I know good moms who would go insane if they didn't have an out-of-the-house career. And that's me with schooling right now. I'd go insane if I didn't get just one of these kids out of the house soon. Given the makeup of my particular family, any attempts on my part to teach Ben anything could have only two outcomes: a) we have to compete with TV and Brother Antics and fail to get any schooling done at all, or b) I take him into a separate room so he can actually learn and come back to the shattered remains of what used to be the rest of my house.

2) I'm totally behind the notion of it taking a village to raise a kid. I'll invite as many people into my village as I can. I CANNOT do it alone. I'm not capable physically, emotionally, or mentally. Trust me.

3) Sure the schools overstep their boundaries sometimes, but I think it's the natural result of so many parents willingly abdicating all their responsibilities to the school system, and the system actually attempting to pick up the slack instead of telling the parents exactly what they can do with their abdicated responsibility. I figure they really can't overstep any boundary I'm there to police, and trust me when I say I'll be there. We'll help Ben separate fact from fiction, and help him learn what makes us different from everybody else and why it's a good thing.

4) While exposing him to The World at such a young age can be scary for me to think about, I'd just as soon he get that exposure in an environment like kindergarten and get a slow exposure instead of getting into college and having a severe Reality Crisis (Matt and I aren't the "BYU or Bust" types when it comes to our kids' college choices, not that I think going to BYU would prevent a Reality Crisis. I've heard some stories!). This world is the one he'll have to deal with as a grown-up, and I figure my main job is training him how to be a grown-up.

So anyway, we're jazzed about school. Today I get to put together his Paper Grocery Bag full of school supplies (no backpacks yet). I think I got started too early, though - I still have another two and a half weeks to fill, and we've pretty much done all the prepping we can.

Oh, no, wait. We can still practice walking his route to school!

Wheeee!