November 11, 2009

My Homeschooled kids are not perfect

My kids sometimes pick their noses and wipe their snot with their sleeves in public. They are not always the most polite kids. They don't always put the needs of their friends first when they come to play. They also chew with their mouths open, forget to say please and thank you, and sometimes they go a little wild and run all over the place. They also have a tendency to talk back sometimes and not want to do any school work of any kind. They also just learned today to stand when singing the National Anthem.

There is a good chance that most kids fall into the same category, but most likely they are not home schooled.

Most school going kids have a few more influences to consider in their upbringing. It's a fact. Spending most of the day 5 days a week with teachers and friends DOES have influence on a person as would spending that much time with ANYONE.

We homeschool our kids so we have ONLY ourselves to BLAME when our kids are not perfect. Not that they don't interact with other people, but let's face it. They spend 80-90% of their day with me. It is our crappy parenting and homeschooling skills that have created wait for it.....NOT PERFECT CHILDREN.

Oh wait a minute....They are only 7,5,2 and a Newborn. That's right, they are CHILDREN and they are LEARNING to become friends that share, adults with manners and people that can fit in and function in society.

Why is it that just because we homeschool, do some parents believe our kids have to be 'perfect'? Why is it that if they fall any bit short of that then we blame OURSELVES and ONLY ourselves? Why are we so hard on ourselves?? To prove that homeschooling works? I know I DON'T homeschool my kids because I think they will somehow turn out better. I just know it is what is best for our family. I cannot expect them to be angels in school or out all of the time so why on earth am I soooooooooooooo hard on myself and them when they demonstrate their weaknesses in public or in front of a friend?? I don't have anything to prove so why is the first thing I question when my kids embarrass me in public is homeschooling??

It is not fair to me. It is not fair to them and it is not fair to homeschooling.

So I won't do it anymore if you won't.

5 comments:

Sara said...

I don't homeschool but I also don't put any of the responsibility to teach my children manners, social skills, etc. on their teachers. The teachers' job is to teach the curriculum to 20+ kids in his/her classroom. My children sound a lot like yours b/c you described perfectly normal children who are growing, testing & learning. Not sure what's up w/ O Canada (& where you were that made you feel badly b/c your kids didn't know to stand) but it's pretty minor in the grand scheme of things. Since both of your childrens' parents are veterans I'm sure they will be raised to respect, appreciate and be proud of the country they live in. Thanks for your service, mam.

Mrs. Stam said...

Hahaha Love your post!!!! Our kids 2 1/2 11 months and another still in the belly, we are home pretty much all the time and we will homeschool and yes they won't be perfect (they are fallen sinful creature after all) and so do we!!!

Sanctification is a process and will help them along the way but their will be some time I'm sure that in public places I will denied that they are mine LOL

Anita said...

Believe me Alyson I know where you are coming from ;) Why IS homeschooling the first thing we look at when are kids are just being crazy ALL THE TIME?? I think you nailed it on the head.. because they are with us pretty much 24/7 ~ parenting is a hard job wheither the kids are homeschooled or go to school. I know I've thought the same thing you have "If I send my kids to school would they be better behaved?" ~ but I see a BIG difference in Ava's behaviour from last year being in JK at school and now being homeschooled. When I am having a bad day (or consective bad days).. I DO have to remind myself they are just kids.. and mine are YOUNG... and although I do my best to teach them manners, respect and kindness... they are going to want and "try" to voice their options.. and they aren't going to be PERFECT all the time... I just keeping saying in my head over and over again "They are just kids ~ They are just kids".

thx for today (and btw your kids ARE great!)

Anonymous said...

well said.
Erin

Nancy said...

Dont't be hard on yourself - you've been doing a great job. . .