It has almost been a year since I wrote "Not My Kid" and thus began the journey toward a very VERY big choice: homeschooling my ladybugs. At this one year anniversary I want to muse about how that moment changed my life.
Regrets
They say hindsight is 20/20, and quite often when I make a choice (regardless of the time spent mulling it over) I look back and say, "I should have done things differently." I'm not perfect, but I do try to make important decisions after much thought and prayer. The crazy part of 2013 was that the end of 2012 seemed to be so positive: I got a job as a music teacher with the ladybugs' school, and everyone was healthy and happy...so I thought. When I left said job in December for the Christmas break, I was at an all time career high; the Christmas pageant went amazingly and I was feeling completely loved and reassured that I was in the right place.
However, I had my rose-colored glasses on, again. The school was on a course to destruction and I do believe there were very ill-fitted people people running the show. People show their true colors under stressful circumstances, and the bullying that occurred only brought to light who people actually were inside.
Finding out who your true friends are can be difficult at times, but afterwards the grateful knowledge supersedes the pain...eventually.
Results
First of all, we continued to homeschool passed the summer months. Mainly because it works for us. The Lutheran school that "everyone" was going, in fact, did see quite a few new students and families this fall. Of course, that was never an option for us anyway; maybe that was just the way it was always supposed to be.
I am only in contact with a few people from the school, and that's okay. We have all moved onward down different pathways...maybe we will meet again. For some though, I sincerely hope not.
Rhetoric
One of the reasons I left the diseased environment of the school was due to the environment itself. Of course my blog entry Not My Kid did have a bit to do with it. I was bullied to pull the blog post, and I was encouraged to simply turn my cheek and "make up" with those involved. When Jim visited the school to get Zoebug's schoolwork, people approached him regarding having conversations between me and "those who hurt me" so that "the air could be cleared," and everything "could return to normal." Normal. What in God's name was normal about that environment in the first place? No thank you. Bullying is not something I take lightly, and my removing my children was, and will forever be, the best decision I made in 2013.
What a difference a year makes.
