Home schooled

I'm dressed in a weak neo-eighties outfit today, in - I shit you not - a belted sweater dress (over pants), black heels with striped socks (pretty much completely covered by aforementioned pants), hoop earrings and a ponytail, and my no bangs are styled into a teeny-tiny pompadour.

It almost works. I look a little bit rad and a little bit ridiculous.

So what brought on this spat of work wear-inappropriate creative dressing? I just read an article on homeschooling in Mothering Magazine that got my creative juices flowing. It excited and scared me. If necessary, I think I could do that. Even if unnecessary, I think I'd want to do that.

I'd be stoked to read to Anonybabe, take her to plays and museums and technology exhibits; to take her camping, send her to local drawing or drama or community college math classes; to take her to get her palm read and volunteer at the botanical gardens. I would love learning alongside her. I had a prolonged fantasy in the car on the way to work about getting us both into a college geometry class when she's a tween. I would promise to stay on the other side of the classroom and pretend not to know her unless she wanted me to, and would finally get to figure out what the hell a proof was.

Creepy? Overly invasive? Perhaps. Hey, it's just a fantasy. And until we see which way the wind blows Anonybabe's temperament, it's too soon to tell whether it's a legitimate one.

Over the course of my own school days, I had teachers who inspired and teachers who stood in my way. I had classrooms where the teachers weren't even mediocre, but I learned in leaps and bounds anyway because I got so much one-on-one attention. I can't imagine going without the strong, easily laid bedrock I got in my elementary grade school years (incidentally at small private schools), and I can't imagine how much more I would have enjoyed jr. high/high school if I'd gotten to home school. (incidentally I attended small-town public schools).

I probably would have blossomed academically if I'd been allowed to "stay home" during high school like I begged to do and follow my interests. I may have languished socially, but I managed to do that anyway. My sister, on the other hand, would certainly have shrivelled up and died if she'd had to home school during her teen years. The public high school we attended was one of the best things that ever happened to her; she found herself there. And the grade school where I flourished? She was miserable there. Every kid is different, every school is different, and you have to find the best fit with the materials you have at hand.

So if Anonybabe isn't suited for homeschooling, no amount of wishing I can do it will make it so. But if she is; methinks I'll have to entertain the idea further. I think I would l-o-v-e love it, all of the inherent frustrations aside. I do realize that spending lots and lots of time with the one you love isn't necessarily a pleasant way to pass one's life, but it can be.

At the very least, we'd have a kick-ass dress code.