Mom vs. the Dot: Making it COUNT!

    "Why Do You Homeschool?" I can't tell you how many times I've been asked this question. And I can't tell you how many different ways I've answered it. I guess my answer has to do with...what are the really asking? Are they asking, "Why are you keeping your kids at home, depriving them of socialization ?" Are they asking, "Why don't you send your kids to public school?  It's what you're supposed to do. " Are they asking, " Why Would You Make Such a Crazy Choice? "  -or- Are they asking, " Why should I consider homeschooling ?" This evening, I was asked "the question" by someone who is part of a local PTA. She said they are trying to understand why people are taking their kids out of public schools to homeschool them. I knew that this woman was sending her two children to public school this fall.  And the other kids who were at our church event atten...

While working in the yard today, I noticed one of our giant bushes looked a little peaked.  In fact, the entire top half of the thing was dead.  Brown.  Beyond help. What happened? I knew there were some viney plants at the base of the bush all summer, but didn't think much of them.  A few leaves, a few feet of vine...nothing to worry about.  Besides, this vine had beautiful red berries and delicate purple and yellow blossoms - it was a thing of beauty! I hadn't paid any attention until the bush was half dead. So I put on some gloves, reached into bush, and pulled back a few branches to discover the vine was killing the bush!  Now, it may seem silly to you that we hadn't noticed this, but the vine grew invisibly, stealthily, wrapping itself around and around the trunk and branches of the bush until it choked off its life-source. And why in the world am I telling you about this? Why would you have any interest in a vine choking a bush in m...