Why I Am Not A Failure - Family

~The following is a list of various accomplishments which cause my spirit to soar in elation at my apparent amazing success as a homeschooler/parent~

Ok - soar in elation may be a bit of Hyperbole. But oh well.

1- I have successfully raised three of my five children more than halfway through their teenage years without deserting them at a bus stop in Indiana,

or eating them,

or "killin' 'em deader than a doorknob and burying 'em in the back yard"

(This is one of my mother's expressions. I have no idea where she hears such things}.

2- My 8 year old knows who the Vice President of these United States is. Which is evidently more than most of the people interviewed on Leno can claim.

3- All of my children are Readers, even Girly Girl (which a lot of people are surprised by). Some of the boys may not always be able to find their "Reading List Book", but they are able to find others and are definitely Readers.

This is an excellent thing.

4- My boys are polite. They open doors for people, offer their seats to older people and women on mass transit, and say please & thank-you nicely.

I only wish I'd worked on the "Maham" & "Sir" thing more. Maybe if we'd moved to the South....

My sister-in-law from Arkansas tells me everyone there says Sir & Maham.

5- My boys are very kind and respectful of people with handicaps. Having a sister with Down Syndrome has no doubt helped in this area.

Those being cruel to someone with special needs including the use of the "R" word in my boy's presence are asking for trouble.

Each of them have been in more than fight/confrontation over this.

I believe in peace; but I also believe in fighting the good fight.

6- My children are liberal, and open of mind and heart.

They easily accept people of color, religious, ethinic, cultural persuasion, and sexual orientation different from their own.

When we read Tom Sawyer I had to explain the "N" word to them, they'd never heard it.

Frankly this rather surprised me; we are homeschoolers, but goodness knows we live in the real world and embrace pop culture! Yet there it is...

7- My kids are all free spirits.

Very free.

Each of them has his or her own opinions, and are not afraid to express them.

Girly Girl knows she is actually a Princess, and expects to be treated as one.

She is stubborn, smart, opinionated, and is impossible to manipulate.

At times, I think Son & Heir, Political Science major & future Peace Corp Volunteer, may well be on the road to Socialism.

But probably not......probably.

CurlyTop is the most stubborn person on the planet. He is also enraged by any type of injustice.

The kid would be a great superhero if he could just come up with the technology.

Coyote will say whatever he thinks to anyone.

And yes, this is not always a good thing.

But he does know what he thinks, and isn't afraid to express it.

And Little Bit - well being the youngest he has more than his share of "bosses". He's learned to be smart, opinionated, stubborn, opposed to injustice or bigotry, and openly expresses himself on any topic which arises.

It'll be interesting to watch as he grows into a teenager.

8- All of my children have good attention spans.

I think.

9- I am excellent at doing laundry.

I've had lots of practice.

I do laundry every day - it's the only possible way.

Whenever Girly Girl manages to get into her closet and 'clean it out", I wind up with even more laundry. Much of it delicate, dry clean only mixed in with damp towels and smelly socks.

Girly Girl bears watching closely when it comes to laundry & closet cleaning.

My children are excellent at "switching laundry", hanging up laundry, and putting the laundry away.

Although there is always the problem of the sock basket. And for some reason my husband's jeans keep going missing. They are inevitably found in Son & Heir's closet. This is a continuing mystery.

10- I'm fun.

The funnest mom around. This is non-debatable I have the miraculous ability to dream up a constant stream of incredibly fun & interesting things to do.

I often feel that others do not fully appreciate this "gift of fun" which which I was blessed.

But I am fun. And anyone who thinks differently has lost touch with their inner child.

Which is really sad.

Although reversable.

And Those are 10 Reasons I Am Not a Failure!