I enjoy homeschooling because it allows my children to embrace their own originality. I don’t really fit into a box, and I can’t easily be defined. My kids don’t and can’t be either. One of the wonderful things about homeschooling is the ability to maintain our own originality in a world that constantly wants to label and judge based on perceptions, behaviors, and outward appearances.
Originality is a trait I admire. It means that although we may occasionally label ourselves a certain way, we don’t have to fit into that “box” all the time. I pride myself on the fact that no matter what I call myself (Christian, conservative, hypocrite, judge, Stay-at-Home Mom, Working Mom, Introvert, Ambivert, OCD/depressed, miraculously healed, mother, daughter, wife, sister, survivor of bullying/verbal abuse, friend, foe, confident, or insecure), I don’t completely fit into any of those labels. I am an original! There is no one label that I feel like I completely embody. One minute I identify with one particular descriptor, only to feel completely different the next. One day I may fit in with a crowd of friends with a similar “label,” and the next I fit in more comfortably elsewhere. Or if I do feel like I fit into one particular label, I’m comfortable with refusing to judge myself based on what others perceive that definition to be and don’t worry so much if I don’t meet their expectations of what I “should” do as a member within that “box.” I know what I’m doing is right for me and my own definition, and that my friends, is originality.
Future #ballerina in the making? Only six months since she got her splits!
Although my children may identify with certain labels, they don’t define themselves that way, and I don’t encourage them to blindly accept others’ definitions of themselves based on labels. They are exposed to such a variety of people and life experiences that they don’t live their lives confined into a neatly packaged definition of who they are. My oldest is dyslexic, a dancer, introverted and yet a bold performer, but there is SO much more to her, and I’m glad she will rarely be influenced to stay inside those boxes, and in fact, she ignores any boundaries that those labels attempt to have on her.
I’ve seriously got to curl her hair more often! This was after her dance recital yesterday and she was precious!
A photo posted by TFHSM (@tfhsm09) on
I realize that the public school mentality and social structure often requires or expects children to fit into labels, demanding they stay within the lines of others’ definitions of themselves, or submit to peer pressure of what is implied when they state “I’m a ___________.” I’m glad that when my daughter says, “I’m dyslexic,” that she doesn’t feel pressured to fit into the box that others might try to put her in because of her statement, and she will never feel like she is limited or confined. Or when she tells others, “I’m a performer,” that she also understands that she can be comfortable with herself during times when she doesn’t feel like performing and just wants to sit quietly and observe.
No words. He’s so serious! Lol
I’m glad that as a homeschool family, we are comfortable with ourselves enough to be proud of who we are. We have this sense of “originality” that gives us a unique perspective on life, love, and friendships. It’s a comfortable and content place to be, and homeschooling allows us the freedom to enjoy it.
This post is part of my ABC’s of Why We Homeschool Series. Go read other homeschool bloggers’ reasons why they enjoy homeschooling!
