The Night Before Homeschooling…

… and all through the house, Tara is procrastinating.

And trying not to spend too much time looking up words that rhyme with house.

Too late.

I have never Tweeted, or even read a Tweet. I’ve sent three texts in my life. And I’m consistently annoyed when my husband stops what we are doing to upload a picture of the activity onto Facebook, on which I have never had an account. So why blog?

Why give up my right to silently judge those who “waste their time” on a “false sense of identity and connection” to blog about the first year of homeschooling our two sons? Here’s a list of reasons and rationalizations that are currently satisfying:

1. I might not be able to keep this up for more than a few months. And if I don’t, I can print these posts and put them in the boys’ scrapbooks as proof that I gave it a go.

2. I’m hoping that people will write me encouraging notes that help me stick with it for more than a few months.

3. I think I’m witty and interesting, and it would be great to get lots of admiring comments to affirm that identity.

4. I pray better when I’m with other people. Or more accurately, I pray more thoughtfully when I am praying with other people. I hope that I might teach more thoughtfully if I take a few minutes each night to reflect on the day.

5. Sometimes I feel like the world is passing me by. Most of the time I try look on those who use the most recent technologies with a combination of scorn and pity. Sometimes, though, I can’t get away from the fact that I’m afraid I just won’t get it. So I pushed past my anxiety when I read that I needed a web-based FTP client. I clicked a button, and now believe that I have such a client. Who cares if I don’t know what it is? This time next year, if I haven’t become hopelessly hooked on my own reflection, I can better decide for myself how much technology I want in my life.

That’s it for now. I’ve got to attach velcro to the back of some play money so that my kids can learn about dollars and cents. The play money I paid real money for. Hey – if you’re gonna homeschool, you might as well enjoy all of the products designed to make you and your actual dollars and sense feel inadequate.