Last week we went to do “Panera School” one morning. This is when I load all our school books in a sack and walk up the street to the new Panera to do school and eat bagels. Well, I usually have a quiche, but the children like the bagels. Mushroom is especially fond of the asiago cheese bagel. He likes his gourmet cheeses.
Anyway, we’re just sitting there, and I’m giving BalletBoy a spelling test and overseeing Mushroom do some math when this woman comes up out of nowhere and plops down a plate with two gingerbread men. She says her friend homeschools. She loves homeschoolers. Hooray for homeschoolers. And here’s a treat for the kids.
Wow. I mean, wow. We all thank her. Well, I thank her and the kids look stunned but thrilled. I know a lot of people deal with the anti-homeschooling harpies all the time, even in their own families. I’ve had my encounters with them a few times, but I encounter the homeschool enthusiasts much more often, though not on this level.
So we leave for our morning co-op museum outing much enthused. And then at the museum instead of guards fussing that we’re laying on the floor drawing pictures and wandering around telling stories and herding the little ones, I meet another stranger who gushes at how cool we all are, how neat homeschooling is, how he and his wife are expecting their first and they hope to homeschool.
I’m telling you, things like this just make my day. I’m good with my choices, so I don’t need your validations, random people, but if you want to give them, I’ll happily take it.
I Capture the Rowhouse 
Love it! I have gotten more positive reactions than negative ones. It seems most people know some homeschoolers in their life so it’s not too far fetched any more. Panera school sounds fun. Maybe when my little guy is older and won’t wreck the place we will do that too.
Validation is good, especially when it comes with free cookies! 🙂
We love Panera School! My son has learned a lot from random employees that are a little bored and want to share something. I’m finding more and more that people are curious and interested and not as judgmental as even a year ago. Then again, our school district is in the tank and class size is up to 34 in elementary, so perhaps it’s just jealous. Either way, we’ll take it!
That’s awesome! I love when this happens. My husband’s nephew is extremely smart but an underachiever (admittedly) (who struggled with being extremely gifted in a sea of mediocrity while in high school) got so excited when we talked about our homeschooling adventures. He told his mother that he wished he had been homeschooled as he was so bored waiting for every one to catch up and being smarter than most of his teachers. He told my daughter that she was lucky to be able to learn on her terms and not according to what some exhausted teacher thought was best… Made my day!