"We haven't done school."

I over heard GK talking to a long time friend. They were having a discussion about the kids in the neighborhood not being home the day before Thanksgiving because they were at school. GK's friend said, "I'm glad we're not at school right now." This was the morning after a giggle filled and late night sleep over. GK replied to her friend, "Yeah we don't 'do school'." They both giggled, and GK elaborated that we really hadn't done any school in weeks. My jaw dropped. I'm always flabberghasted when they say these things to other people because I'm more concerned how they take them, than what they really mean to the children.

They can say it to other homeschoolers and those families get what the kids mean. Let them say it to a store clerk, and watch the bank teller's, cashier's, doctor's, mechanic's, anyone's eyes twitch. They *blink, blink* like they didn't hear right. I can hear their eye lids clap together they do it so hard, and this ticker tape of "should I call someone" starts running in LED's behind their forhead. I have to quickly cover their words with profuse explaination before the squad cars and caseworkers show up. You know they have those buttons under the counters now right next to the robber buttons. They installed those when the practice of taking the child in hand behind the nearest clothing rack became taboo.

It is a true statement that we haven't "schooled" the children in several weeks since beginning to prepare for this move. But that doesnt mean they haven't learned anything. For one they've learned that Mom is not the only resource for what to do when one is bored. Secondly they've learned that they really do not want to play game boys for 8 hours straight, and especially not at 11pm when hours worth of effort end in missing the boat (game specific). They are learning their own limits.

I used to think children didn't have limits on certain things, and that I had to impose limits to keep them from hurting themselves. A belly ache after 5 slices of pumkin pie is something one can recover from, and that same someone will decline 3rds or 4ths or 5ths the next time around.