Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Encounters with neighbors

I have this neighbor, Lady M, who's very nosy. She loves to criticize and get into everyone's business. One thing she believes in strongly is having only 2 kids (she had 3). She also doesn't believe in homeschooling but that public schools are the only way to turn out good kids. She doesn't hesitate to tell me any of this and then to tell me I'm crazy for homeschooling and having more than two kids. When I point out that she had 3 kids she just says she shouldn't have and that she only had two hands. I wonder which one she'd have sent back??

So today I get the "Congratulations, I heard you're having another one." Yes, I am. Then the questions start: Will I finally put the kids in school? Where am I going to fit another one? On and on. I try to smile and answer the questions as politely as I can. I pointed out that for most homeschool families mine is still quite small (many of my friends have 6, 7, or 8 children and one mom I know has 12). She then asked if all of them were certified teachers. I then brought up that studies have shown that a woman with a high school diploma can turn out a student with better academic abilities than some of the public school children, she rolled her eyes. Hey, the single determining factor for success in school is small class size.

"Well, that I agree with," Lady M replied.

"Well, you can't get much smaller than 3 can you?" I asked. She then changed the subject and started questioning the children on what kind of teacher I was and whether I was any good. I don't even take offense at this anymore since there isn't anything I can do to stop this. I'm hoping one day she will see that my children aren't as messed up as she thinks they will be. Until then I pray prayers of patience any time I see her coming and hope I can continue to persevere.

2 comments:

Jim Rooks said...

My daughter is a great teacher. If they'd paid her a living wage she'd probably still be there. The education of my grandchildren is in exellent hands!! Wendy's Dad

audiblelifeablaze said...

no doubt in my mind, God is using you to show this woman HIS love for her....you go girl!