Another Monday

Today has been interesting. I went to the bank, the board of education, and the grocery store. Mundane things for everyone else, but anxiety-provoking for someone afraid to be on the road. It is confusing how my faith is what lets me even get out there to try to drive somewhere, but I can't seem to get any control over the gut-wrenching (literally!) fear that comes when I see a car approach in an intersection. I can actually start to feel comfortable behind the wheel until I come to an intersection, and then my knees start getting wobbly and my stomach feels most uncomfortable. I wasn't going to write about that, but as with so many other things, this is part of me - who I am, and that's what this blog is about. Writing a blog is kind of like just letting it all hang out - the good, the bad and the ugly! But it's also therapeutic, and that's why I do it, and so when my boys are older they can have this to look back on and see what their ol' mom was all about (which may answer many questions for them!)

I went to the board of education to withdraw Andy from THE SYSTEM. As I suspected, they didn't want to see what materials I was using. I just need to fill out a form stating my intent and that I agree to teach him what he would be learning in school, and that's that. There will be a review in January and in June in which I will need to show his work to the home school coordinator at the board, but that's it. It's kind of funny though - they made it very clear that Andy could not participate in any school activities of any kind, including extracurricular, and could not use any school materials - BUT he sure was welcome to take the state testing when it's given at the schools! I guess he is! - his and other homeschoolers' scores would tend to make the school's scores look very good, which translates into more money in the end. We can't use anything of theirs (even though I still must pay school taxes), but they can use our children with the education that we taught them, to make their school system look good. Puh-leeze. Okay - enough board-bashing. I will say that I am very pleased with the education that Andy got in elementary school, and for that I am grateful. It also helps when you have a smart kid - but then, I'm biased!