Those sheltered homeschool kids...

I did something rude at Starbucks this morning. I was overhearing the (loud) conversation of two women waiting for their lattes and heard the word "homeschooling " so of course my radar went up. I'm always looking for new friends.

As I listened, the blonde was telling--with great horror--about a neighbor's decision to pull her children out of school. ("And--like-- it's just such a good school, too!") The listener was making all sorts of "uh-huh" and "you're right" kinds of noises. As she stepped forward, away from her friend to grab her drink, the blonde exclaimed very loudly, "And I just--like--worry about them. I just don't know how she thinks they'll ever--like--survive in the world. They just won't know how to do anything on their own!"

That's when it happened. I was trying to hold back my laughter and I snorted. Loudly.
They both looked at me and I smiled at them and said, "I couldn't help but hear your [very loud] conversation. I homeschool my kids and it's always interesting [entertaining] to hear other [clueless] people talk about it."

The blonde said, "Don't you worry that they'll be--like--backward? They won't know anything about the real world." They called her friend's drink and they went walking off before I could say anything, but all I could think about was my homeschooled-through-high school daughter who is currently 14 time zones away, traveling alone, on a trip that she partially paid for with money that she earned, and that we could help out with because she has a scholarship that covers her college tuition.

I thought about my 15 year old son who could fly to Florida and hang out with his grandparents and the other snow birds and be an engaging enough companion that people there want to see him again, and who is very handy at all kinds of indoor and outdoor work.

I thought about my two youngest sons, who, as squirrely as they can be sometimes, know how to dress for and behave at a performance of the Bach Collegium or the Philharmonic. Who know that you should look people in the eye and address them directly when you meet them and that you should hold the door for ladies and people with their hands full. And, like their older brother and sister, they are learning to be useful where they can at home and at church.

Ya know, I think they can handle the real world just fine. I just wish the blonde was--like- reading my blog.



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