I will warn you now...I'm going to get on my soapbox, and I have very little tolerance for this one....
I posted a link yesterday to an absolutely disgusting book (which...NO I do not feel it is "freedom of speech" and I will not even go there with anyone) on the 11th grade reading list in public schools.
THAT isn't what irked me. What irked me was a comment from someone...who I don't even know. I'm not really sure how people are commenting that I don't know (they are friends of friends) it must be a facebook thing.
BUT. This person made the comment they "cannot" homeschool because both parents "have" to work.
It annoys the absolute living heck out of me when I hear this. Now, I do not believe everyone should homeschool. I agree, it is not for everyone.
HOWEVER. I also do not believe everyone "has" to work. That is a CHOICE.
We are a family of EIGHT living on a public school teacher pay......no lawyer or doctor or corporate person here.....just your average guy!
We have made CHOICES for me to stay home.
We haven't moved up into a BIGGER house. Instead we have used every possible inch of the one we built (which is a RANCH.)
We do not buy new cars every few years, we drive them until they drive no more (what a concept.)
We don't go out to eat often. We don't vacation often. We share clothing with friends (you have a kid older than mine....great! We'll take his clothes, and here.....we are done with these, can you use them???) We have been so amazingly blessed, we have not had to buy ANY clothing for Kate and Quinn at all!! I also have not had to buy Jack anything. The only thing we have had to get for those three is new shoes....how GREAT is that???
Our house isn't a magazine spread....it is lived in. You are not going to see me posting pictures of my chestnuts roasting by an open fire with my feet propped up in the foreground. First.....that isn't my style. Second.....we LIVE here.....I don't have time for that....stuff. Our furniture isn't brand new, it hasn't been in a while....and we are busy doing other things....it isn't going to be for awhile!
Our computer got fried back when we had the flood (remember that!?) We still haven't purchased a new one. We have 2 that were built out of old computers. They work. Good enough. For now.
My kids have ipods......that they bought themselves with birthday money from their grandparents and aunts/uncles. We did not purchase them.
CHOICES.
I do not have to work. I can stay home, we are CHOOSING to live within our means.
We did two international adoptions. How?....see above. One we worked our rears off and did fundraising for, and also applied for grants. The other, we had our home paid for, so we took out a home equity loan. I wish I had known about fundraising at the time!
I hate hearing people say they CANNOT do something because they HAVE to work. That is a CHOICE. You have chosen your path. You can choose to make changes.
I understand people WANT to work. Women WANT to work. Just say that. There is a difference between HAVING to work and WANTING to work.
If you can't pay your bills because you have purchased a house beyond your means, you have gotten into the habit of spoiling your kids, and you are driving a great car, how about your own clothing, or purse, or that cute new tote bag..... maybe you could just drive an ok car, downsize the house, and say no to the kids....carry your purse a little longer...or not drop $150, $250, $300 on a purse in the first place.
Me.....I'm happy in my lived in home with my bajillion kids and not a whole heck of a lot of stuff....and using my stuff just a liiiitttle longer than I planned.
Main point......do not whine when your kid in public school is being indoctrinated by the government and say you HAVE to do something (besides advocate for your kid.) TODAY we are still living in a free country and are able to CHOOSE where our children attend school, IF we work, WHEN we work, and HOW we raise our children. YOU ARE NOT A VICTIM.
And *thousands* of people did not die to make this country what it was so that we could all become whining babies who say "but I haaave to do this, and I caaaan't do that......"
Once I got kicked out of a play for breastfeeding Jack when he was like 2.5 or 3 years old at the Cleveland Playhouse. :) (giant sarcastic smile)
By the time I left Cleveland Playhouse I had the manager following me out apologizing.
Know your rights. Make wise choices. Do the right thing.
Don't be whiners.
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