Smaller and smaller worlds

My friend Liz, who will begin homeschooling next year, wrote a lovely blog post about starting to share that knowledge with the world, and how that feels scary and wonderful all at once.

I remember that feeling, and how thankful I was to have the conversation with the children about what they felt comfortable saying to strangers when they were asked, “So, day off school?” Now, it’s old hat to all of us. The checker at Trader Joe’s will say, “So, no school today?” Buster invariably rolls his eyes and says, “We’re homsechooled!” In that “duh” voice which means the whole world should recognize our family.

I also love when someone asks the children what grade they are in. We look at each other with that questioning face because we just can’t remember. Even as I’m sitting here, I have trouble remembering what grade Zoe is “in.” It comes down to what CAT test she took for state requirements last year. Doesn’t really impact our daily life at all.

So, just now I got a call from our new broker at Charles Schwab. Rob, our previous partner, moved to a different job, so Chris was calling to introduce himself. We chatted for a bit, and he mentioned he and his wife have 4 children under 13.

“Ha, ha, we have 3 under 9,” I said.

He asked if I worked outside the home. His wife was home with the children.

“I make collections calls for my husband and his brother’s business, but we’re homeschoolers, so an adult’s needed here,” I responded.

“That’s so funny you say that. We’re homeschoolers, too. At first we thought it was crazy, but then we learned a little more about it and realized, ‘Hey!’ this sounds pretty good.”

Ahhhh. So nice to feel these connections in the world.