Here come the crazies

This is my third blog. Fourth if you count the Guild blog I have for World Of Warcraft. It's been a long time coming with an even longer time of me trying to decide what I wanted to do here exactly. I have at the time of this post, been home schooling for two years. I am a virgin. A babe. A newbie. In that two years, I have been reading everything that I could get my hands on about home schooling and child development. You know, so I could be sure that my kids wouldn't lynch me.

I am not a religious woman. We did not pull our kids out of school so we could be closer to god, find our purpose in life or walk with Jesus. We pulled them out of public school because our public system was failing my kids. They were bored beyond belief and were quickly on the road to becoming trouble makers. My son was the best paper airplane maker in all of 4th grade. He was proud. His teacher didn't think it was amusing. Considering that I taught him most of the models he would create, I was proud dammit.

My kids are creative, smart and simply amazing. I knew that I needed to save them. They deserve so much more than to be pigeon holed. So here I am. A home school mom. I don't have a clue what I am doing half the time. But I plan to blog about it. A. Lot. Hopefully, my trip into the oblivion will help someone...or at least make your morning coffee a bit more entertaining.

So, Zoe over at Chic & Sassy Designs got me all hooked up with a design that I love, that didn't break my bank account. She didn't cause me to rip out my hair and she saved my fanny when I didn't have the patience to install this thing properly. Thanks Zoe!!! If anyone needs a design, I highly recommend her. Easy breezy, friendly and just look at this place. Fab right?

So....here I go. Launching. Again. Fasten your seat belts.

A sad day

I think it is only appropriate that I post about the tragedy in Northern Illinois today. I also think that it is only fair for me to also mention an incident that occurred in our taekwondo class last night as well. Both incidents are filled with violence. Something that I am sure keeps many parents up each night.

We are again a nation that is in mourning. What happened yesterday in Illinois can happen at any given moment in any given location. When my kids were in public school, it was the stuff that would haunt my dreams. I realize that this occurred at a college. Something that is still down the road for my crew however, the last time, it was at a high school, the time before that - a middle school, then another high school. What is happening to our kids?

Last night, in our TKD class, we had a girl who is in middle school. She was upset because as she put it she "was fixin to get jumped at school". What this meant to her, at some point during her Thursday, while she was supposed to be learning, she was getting notes passed to her that threatened to "gank her" and to "cut her up". She is in MIDDLE SCHOOL. 6th grade. The school was privy to the threats and has yet to intervene. How are kids supposed to learn in an environment like this?

At the beginning of our "school year" this year, I gave my kids an option. They could either continue on being home schooled, or they could go back to public school. All 3, without a moments hesitation, said they wanted to be home schooled. Thank God.

So many moments occur in my life that make me utter the words "thank god we home school". Thursday, I uttered those words more than once. I am thankful that I can give this choice to my kids. I am thankful that I have the ability to give my kids a safe and non threatening place to fill their brains. I am thankful that even though there are people who think that home schooling is somehow not a benefit, I still have the freedom to do what I think is right for my family. I am thankful that I home school. Especially today.