The Look

Ok fellow homeschoolers, I'm officially in the club. That's right I have just been formally inducted into the elite group of homeschoolers being judged by complete strangers. And the crowd goes wild!

Today I took Ella up to a new ice rink for her skating lesson. The roof of her old rink collapsed (stupid snow) so until they rebuild we are driving even further north to skate at another rink. And right now I'm pretty sure my parents are laughing hysterically as they remember all the driving they had to do when I was skating...usually before the sun was up. Yep, payback is...well payback.

Anywhooo, this rink is in the middle of a county recreation center so there were a ton of people there doing all sorts of recreational type things. In the course of watching Ella and chasing Jack, I ended up mentioning to someone that we homeschool. It was such a passing conversation that I can't even remember how or why the topic came up. But I do remember...The Look.

Yep, you know the one I'm talking about. The Look that manages to convey in a split second a mad mix of judgment ranging from "wow, I could never do that" through "is she a religious wacko" all the way down to "you're crazy." That's right. The Look.

And you know what? I felt oddly self-satisfied to be on the receiving end of The Look. It was kind of like making a public declaration of our homeschooling decision. Like jumping on the table Norma Rae style with a big sign that says "Yes, I Homeschool." In that brief moment of the raised eyebrows, wrinkled forehead and stunned pause I was labeled, categorized and grouped. I got the homeschool scarlet letter. The Look.

And you know what? I kinda like it.