I May Never Stop Reading

Nobody knows the trouble I've seen.

Nobody knows my sorrow...

Actually, that's not true. I just was sitting here remembering that old song and thought I'd type it in.

Sorry.

I've got things to do and I'm not doing any of them.

I started reading Pat Conroy's new book, South of Broad and I don't want to stop. I never want to put it down. I don't want to eat or anything else. I just want to soak in the deep pool of his writing.

If you've never read any of his work, than you have truly missed out.

His writing is:

Beautifully detailed.

His writing is so incredibly Southern that I find myself reading the accent of each character.

The tragic moments are so heartbreaking, that I find myself utterly undone.

Few writers have shocked me the way Pat Conroy does. I seldom see it coming and then I'm left shattered and wondering how the main character will ever recover. I'm serious. No amount of psycho babble would cure me.

And sometimes the tale is so sad that I find myself hysterical, grieving as if their sorrow were my own.

Ahem...

That being said, I have never seen one of the movies that his stories have been adapted from. I can't do it. In my mind I see the character. I feel their anguish or rapture. I become a part of the story.

Sigh...

He's a wonderful writer.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get back to my reading...err..I mean housework.

Disclaimer: Pat Conroy is not a Christian writer. Be warned.

Big Mouth

I homeschool.

We have homeschooled since kindergarten many, many years ago.

In all honesty, I homeschooled kindergarten because, well, how bad can you screw up kindergarten? I mean really?

Because I've done this for so many years, I kinda snicker instead of getting angry when asked about, socialization.

Are you kidding me?

But I don't really feel like having that conversation just now.

The problem arouse yesterday, when someone asked me when I homeschool, since I now work four days per week. I laughed (I promise I did not snicker) and said that since Girl is 16 and can read she pretty much does her own work.

The teacher in front of me did not approve (insert massive eye-roll here). She pressed on.

"What about Algebra? Chemistry?"

I explained, as I always do, about the wonders of teaching DVD's and pulled out my favorite zinger:

"She takes outside classes. Courses such as, Genetics at the University and her college prep writing course. It's good for her to be in a classroom setting just to see how that all works". Gag.

Our take on education has always been that ultimately it was the children's responsibility. It's their job to learn. It's their job to study. It's their right to be educated.

"Why not private school?" she sighed.

"Because I don't see any difference between public and private. They all still have the pack mentality," I replied, weary of this conversation.

I had hoped that this last zinger would scare her off, that she'd back off and leave me alone.

It didn't.

I listened as she explained the value of group education, good curriculum, and so forth. I smiled and said, "Each family needs to decided what's best for them. For us, it was homeschooling."

She smiled. We're still friends...I think.

It doesn't matter. If I cared what other people thought about the way I raise my children, I wouldn't have homeschooled.

And that would have been a shame.