Last night, we attended the spring concert for Brandon's band at school. He played the handbells at the beginning of the show, and that was really neat! (He's the 3rd one in this picture, the tall smiling guy!) After a few handbell songs, the whole concert band played. Brandon's in the percussion section. They sounded great, and there were even some kind of funny songs. The last one was the theme from "The Andy Griffith Show" so for part of the song, they snapped and whistled instead of playing instruments. (Go ahead and picture little Opie with his fishin' pole - and I know you want to whistle along...) Kathryn has never heard of that show, and doesn't know the song (HELLO, generation gap! Even though it WAS all re-runs when I watched it!!!). But she enjoyed the show anyway, and bopped her feet along with the music... actually there was enough foot-bouncing to accidentally kick her flip-flop off her foot and over the edge of the balcony where we were sitting! Ooops. But we safely retrieved it and it hadn't hit anyone in the head. {smile}
It feels a bit odd, being a devoted homeschool mom attending public school functions for one of our kids. I know that, for various reasons, some families choose to homeschool some kids and send some to school. I certainly don't condemn that, because we all have to pray about and do what is best for our families, and every family - every child - is different. But personally, I want all my kids, present and future, to be homeschooled all the way through. Yes, I made it through public school, and did very well. I was in the "gifted" programs, I was "popular", I excelled in school. But OH, how I wish things had been different. I think my real walk with Christ would have begun so much sooner if I hadn't dealt with the things at school that I considered "normal": the big banners with 1-800 numbers to turn in a drug dealer; drug-sniffing dogs coming to check lockers; the friends overdosing on drugs or getting alcohol poisoning; having to testify to the principal about bloody fist-fights I witnessed; the cliques and the hurt kids left out of them; my classmate's suicide; the girls who spread nasty rumors about me and the one who was bound and determined to beat me up; the VERY worldly thinking... virginity was a condition to be overcome, and you sure didn't admit if you were one. That's all just for starters. And it's not even touching on the subject of actual academics, or any of the other wonderful aspects of homeschooling. Whew.
So it's sometimes hard to be supportive of the public school stuff. Since Brandon lives with his mom most of the time, we don't really get to make the decision about homeschooling, and he wouldn't want to at this point anyway. It's one of the challenges of being part of a blended family. But Brandon is a good kid, and we pray often for him to stay on the right path. He's definitely light years ahead of where I was spiritually at his age. He's only got one more year of high school, and then he hopes to go to college and wants to do something with music. Sometimes he vents about school, about how he likes learning but hates school. And when he does, I could launch into a big spiel on why I don't like public school, or I can be supportive and empathetic and keep my big mouth shut. I choose to do the latter.
