1.  Are your kids happy?

2.  Are your kids safe?

3.  Are your kids learning? 

You see, I was in the middle of a fit because I "clearly" thought I had lost my mind about the decision to homeschool.  It had been a rough few days and I had myself convinced that I didn't know what I was doing.  Well,  I was sure of one thing...I was pretty sure we would all in up in counseling. :)  In my moment of self-inflicted drama, these three questions seemed to reign in my perspective.  I took a deep breath and asked myself the questions.  To my surprise my answers came easily and quickly...YES, YES, YES.  As much as I felt like things were NOT going accordng to the perfect image I had in my mind, the answer to all three questions was truly yes.  All three of my kiddos were happy, safe, and learning.  

These three questions are also the reason why I get so worked up when people knock homeschooling.  To me, it doesn't matter what style of education you have picked for your child (public, private, Montessori, homeschooling, charter, etc.), if you can answer "yes" to all three questions you have made the right choice.  The first thing I thank God for every morning is that we live in a country where can CHOOSE our child's education.  It is our choice as their parents to make the best decision for each child.  What a blessing that is!

There is a funny misconception about homeschooling that we often laugh about.  It goes something like this, "Homeschoolers...oh, they are just weird."  The truth is we (all people) tend to view something as weird if it is different from ourselves.  Ouch...that little piece of truth hurts, doesn't it?  We are all guilty of it.  At some time or other we have all put someone in the "weird" category simply because they were not the same as us.  What is funny is that "they" are probably thinking you/I/we are weird, as well.  :)  

I wish ALL MOMS could just support one another's decisions.  It reminds me of how opinionated people get about breast feeding, potty training, and pretty much the correct way to handle every phase of parenting.  Why is it that when someone does something differently from what we consider "normal" it automatically causes us to become hyper defensive?  Lets just get over ourselves and support one another.  After all, we are all just trying to make sure our children are:  happy, safe, and learning.