A Difficult Thing About Homeschooling

A friend, Dawn, told me what she thought was the only hard thing about homeschooling: Christmas shopping. Because she always has her son with her. (Actually, I bet Dawn would have quite a few other things she didn't like about hs-ing if she had two or more to "school" at the same time. She has two older boys, graduated from school, and one younger son who is the homeschooled child. But that is for another post or two or a hundred.)

It is hard to shop for those presents when the kids are with you. Luci is easy--she doesn't know she is supposed to peek under the jackets in the shopping cart. Bryan and JT think it is a big game.

The two Christmases that John spent overseas with Enduring Freedom, the boys and I had a "train" thing going in Walmart. (Luci wasn't home with us yet.) We all took big coats and each of us had a shopping cart. I was in the front, then JT, then Bryan. We were all very good about not peeking, and the gifts were hidden under the coats. Those were fun memories for all three of us ("OK, this is the kitchen gadget aisle. I love all of this stuff. I'll be at the end of the aisle, looking the other way.") Sort of exciting, and so different. The only tricky part was paying at the check-out. The cashier got a kick out of us trying to hide things from each other, and she was really good about helping us keep the secrets. That's what got us through those deployments--finding something fun and trying to do things a little differently.

This year, the boys are big enough to leave at home one at a time while I take Luci and one boy to the store, and I also had some days that I could just "bug out" with the kids all at home with John.

But one day this past week, the kids and I were at Walmart and I just had to get a few items while they were with me. We ate breakfast in the McDonald's in the back of the store and then the boys headed out to the Electronics section with Luci strapped into her stroller--she is a good rider, and will put up with a lot if the stroller keeps moving. I actually got to sit there and drink my coffee in peace. Why didn't I think of doing this a long time ago? Coffee all by myself and no dishes to wash. After the coffee was gone, I made my mad dashes around the store, hiding things under the roll of paper towels and potato chips, and made my way to the Electronics section.

I get to the shoe department and I can hear it...."I have to go potty! I have to go potty!" over and over. Finally I make it to the correct aisle, and there are the boys, playing "Guitar Hero" on the store's X-Box 360 and Luci is straining at her stroller straps, yelling, "I have to go potty!"

Maybe this wasn't such a great idea! I had to wade through shoppers 3 deep to get to Luci ("Excuse, me, that's my child"), we made it to the bathroom where she decided she didn't have to go after all, and the boys ended up seeing most of what was in the cart. Rats. Maybe next year's shopping secrets will be better kept.