No Cats In Our Cradle!
he is, but he is only human and I have to respect what he brought with him to our marriage. So, at first, I suggested a compromise-I would homeschool Jasper for an entire school year, and if my husband felt Jasper was not being well-educated, I would gracefully admit defeat and re-enroll him in school. My husband could live with this, and so the deal was on. He was not yet consumed by the idea-every time I complained that we'd had a bad day, he'd threaten the boys with sending them back to "real" school, which was not exactly the supportive answer I was looking for. If I had not been toughened enough by those five years I raised them alone to support myself emotionally, I would have crumbled without my sweetie's support. I learned to measure what I told him, and only told him about bad days when I was strong enough not to get hurt by his reply. We have grown more closely together since he has seen first-hand the results of homeschooling not just one, but three of the boys.
Now, I have to admit to a little "wifing" of the deal. This is a term my husband coined, to indicate something that is not really cheating or "fudging" but includes spin doctoring with a wifely wiles twist. (It burns more calories than Aerobics, some days!) What I did was, I selected some subjects that my beloved is a self-proclaimed expert in. History. Geography. Current Events. Model Building. Target Practice. Muzzle Loading. Cooking. Hiking. Wood Splitting (believe me, there's a knack to that!). Hunting. Fishing. Then, when the Beloved One was not too tired, we would ask his opinion on what we were studying, maybe ask for a little bit of help. Of course, he took over several of the subjects. What sort of man do you know who would admit playing for the losing team of the game? Well, before you know it, he was bragging to his co-workers that his wife was a homeschool mom, and his kid was the brightest star shining! When we meet people he knows at the grocery store or wherever, he brags there, too, and I am quick to point out that "we" homeschool, not just me. Who can't use a lot more praise in this life? No one deserves it more than those you love most, anyway.
The only subject that
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