I had an interesting conversation a couple of days ago that I just keep thinking about.
A woman asked if I homeschool my kids, and I told her I do. She said that she has been considering homeschooling her kids for the coming school year. (This is common, in case you wonder. Everybody is apparently thinking about it. Many think, but few act-- which is not necessarily bad!)
She said she just can not imagine what a homeschool day would look like. How would it be scheduled? What would she and her kids do? I invited her to come over some time and see one family in action. (Just FYI: Lumping all homeschoolers together would be like lumping all mothers together. You cannot watch one mother in action and decide you have seen how all-- or even most-- mothers behave.)
She said, "That would be great! I can tell you're an organized mom. I've been to some homeschooler's houses at noon and..." she leaned in little closer to share a horrible secret, "their kids are still in their pajamas!"
Oh! goodness! how shocking! Like young George, I cannot tell a lie, but I felt like I was confessing on the spot to raising lazy, unsocialized, uneducated bums, as I cleared my throat and said, "Well, actually.... we have days like that ourselves."
She looked embarrassed-- although if that was for her comment or my confession, I couldn't tell.
Since then I have been especially sensitive to how my kids and I are dressed. I have been remembering the other day when my friend Emma showed up at the door at around 9 am and looked surprised. "You're dressed!" she said. Well, yes. I do occasionally shower and pull on a pair of jeans before noon. Not often. But sometimes.
But here's the thing this woman did not consider. It is possible to be productive in your pajamas! I know those people who go out into the world at the break of dawn have a reason to force themselves into the shower and shirts with buttons before the sun comes up. But, as Bill Nye would say, Consider the Following...
Suzy wakes up and comes downstairs to breakfast. On her way to the table she sees the book on iguanas she checked out from the library yesterday. She brings it to the table and reads about different species while eating her Cheerios. The book mentions the ancient Aztecs, so after putting her bowl in the dishwasher, she pulls out the A encyclopedia and looks up the Aztecs. Her brother sees what she's reading, and tells her they own a book about Aztec artwork, which she finds and reads, cover to cover, on the couch. When she's done, she pulls out her clay and beads and creates some Aztec artwork of her own. She includes some pretty realistic iguanas in her mosaics. Mom walks in and asks if she's done her math, and Suzy quickly gets up and grabs her math book from the bookshelf. She lays on the front room floor to work out her problems. Some of them don't make a lot of sense, so she gets out the counting blocks and the play money to figure them out.
Ding dong! The doorbell rings-- and there is the lady who's thinking of homeschooling. And what does she see? Suzy-- in her pajamas at noon-- laying on the front room floor with blocks and pretend money all around her. A kitchen table with clay, beads and construction paper out. Books and an encyclopedia on the couch. hmmm... this doesn't look good, does it?
(Granted, Suzy could use some practice at putting her things away when she's done with them. Her mom is probably working on that. Don't worry.)
I suspect that Suzy might remember more about the Aztecs, iguanas, and her math than Betsy, who is in her fashionable mall-bought clothes, with her hair brushed, sitting in a school desk passing notes to Billy and wondering where Amy got her new shoes.
Not that there is anything wrong with getting dressed. I do it myself almost every day. I simply propose that it is possible to be productive in your pajamas! =)
