The Thing I Need to Say {My Deep Seated Desire}

I'm really not even sure how to start this post. I've got 3 or 4 other posts I'm currently working on (always lots of irons in the fire around here), and I would really rather just finish one of them. But this week's You Capture theme over at I Should Be Folding Laundry is "Back to School," and it gave me the motivation I needed for this post, this post that has things I need to say here.

Most people who know me know that I was homeschooled. A fewer number of people know that my husband was also homeschooled. Only people very close to me know that I've always wanted to homeschool my children. Even fewer people than that know that my husband and I haven't always agreed on this, even though we do now. And lastly, a few people know that we are currently ending our first week of homeschooling, the first week of Jack and Ava's first year of preschool.

And that is what I need to say. We are homeschooling.

There's a part of me that wants to blurt out in an effort to buffer this decision, "We're just trying this out to see how it goes." But I know me, I know our family, and I know we're in this for the long haul, Lord willing. Unless something drastic happens, we fully intend on staying on the homeschooling path.  And I say this because I've come to believe that rarely do we have deep seated desires that, unless contradictory to God's Word, are not placed in our hearts by God.

{blueberry muffins for breakfast on our first day of school}

Our choice to homeschool is not about being better or about being more righteous or even about being different, because homeschooling is not about any of those things. And believe me, I typically enjoy being different. But for some reason, being different in this way is oddly difficult for me, even though I grew up with this kind of different. No, our choice to homeschool is about this deep seated desire which I believe has become a calling on me, my husband, and our family. And when I lose focus and begin to obsess about missing the rather large sub-culture that is "normal" schooling, I just remember this deep seated desire and know that the only regrets I will have will be if I ignore this desire/calling.

The kids are only 3 1/2, and we're taking things slow. One of my brunettes laughed outloud at me (in a loving friend kind of way) when I said we were "casually starting homeschooling" this year. She was right to laugh. We don't do things casually around here, even if we try. But what I mean is I am keeping my expectations of myself low and realistic. It has become my mantra for everything: High Standards, Low Expectations.

{A list of preschool goals, academic, domestic, and spiritual - this is me keeping it simple}

And I'll just leave you with that. I could address my take on the two prevalent arguments against homeschooling, and someday I will. But not today. Because today is about saying this:

We are homeschooling. Telling the world here via my blog is easy. Telling the lady who cuts my hair when she asks where my kids are going to preschool is not easy. Telling the lady at the hardware store when she states that "soon your kids will be in school and you'll get a break" while she unknowing mixes paint for our "school room" is not easy.

But that's okay because way down deep, I've got that deep seated desire.

And this post is also about showing you pictures from our first day.

{enjoying an after school snack of freshly baked cookies on our first day}

And of course, today is about linking up.

Homeschooling is valid. So is public school, private school, and charter school. You can check out more back to school HERE.