The Family That Bowls Together...

My husband and I are fairly involved in the local bowling scene.  My husband is a really good amateur bowler that shows up occasionally to tournaments when he is not studying like mad for an actuarial exam and I am just your average female bowler.  We have a good time and sometimes my husband is lucky enough to cover his costs or even a little bit more.

'Bowling strike showing winning skittles game' by Stuart Miles, found at freedigitalphotos.net

Over time, we have noticed one particular family that always seems to do really well at these tournaments.  Pretty much if you see their last name on the list of competitors you can bet that they will end up at or near the top of the roster.  And that's not the only interesting thing about these people.

This family is one rowdy bunch.  And I'm not talking just the fun and gregarious thing. 
I mean these people are prone to a bit of legal troubles, if you know what I mean.  So they have quite a reputation for being rough around the edges.

But here's the main thing I have noticed about this big, rough, rowdy, bowling family.  They are in this together.  They help each other out.  My husband and I always marvel at how effectively they coach each other and how when it comes to bowling there is no argument among them at all.  It is clear that they are there to benefit one another and to raise up the entire group.  It's really something to see.  There's just something really cool about people who clearly have some serious differences among themselves being able to drop all that and work together so well.

Have you ever been truly surprised by another side of someone that you didn't see on first observation?  Was it a good thing, or a bad thing?  Do you think everyone has something about them that you wouldn't expect?

A New Adventure!

 This past June I celebrated with my nephew, Nathan, as he reached the milestone of finishing elementary school.  I drove down for his big day and had lunch with his family.  I also brought him this balloon as a way of indicating both my pride and my wish for him to continue on with his education.

Although it was an exciting day I couldn't help but feel a bit of underlying worry. 

It is the local custom to finish elementary school in the fifth grade where my nephew went to school; not the sixth grade as I am accustomed to.

My nephew has always been able to keep up with or exceed the educational expectations of any classroom, but his social issues often create some real trouble that even the best teacher struggles to deal with.

I have continued to wonder over the summer how Nathan would do with the big transition to middle school- with all it's new responsibilities of having to move from one class to another all day, keeping organized with the proper supplies for each class, navigating each day as one of the youngest yet tallest and biggest kids in the school.

Although I know that my nephew will eventually be perfectly capable of dealing with all of this I haven't been able to keep from worrying.

Then one day last week I got a most interesting phone call.  It was my nephew's Dad, telling me that he wanted my opinion on something.  He was considering homeschooling for Nathan.  He had many of my same concerns, especially about the transitions into this next school year.

Wow, my mind was reeling.  I have to admit that I have many times believed that Nathan would benefit greatly from homeschooling, even before my worries about the transition to middle school.  I have actually believed in, participated in helping with some subjects for our neighborhood kids who are home schooled, and loved the homeschooling idea for a very long time.  I grew up with close friends who were home schooled and came to the public school for band classes and sports. 

I also know that homeschooling is not for everyone.

Although my secret heart's desire has been for my nephew to be home schooled for quite a while now, I have also faced up to the idea that asking his Dad to do that is asking a whole lot, as he is a single parent. 

True enough, Nathan lives with his grandmother as well as his father and yet I have just never been able to justify asking them to do this for Nathan.

Turns out his Dad is more than willing to be as creative as he possibly can to help out with home schooling and Nathans grandmother is also more than willing to participate.  I have also signed on to take Nathan for a couple of weeks at a time just as I do during holidays now.  I will be doing it more often and helping out with his schooling process when I do.  Hopefully, that will help to keep Nathan & his Dad as close as they are now, without too much over exposure and frustration creeping in!

We have all agreed to try this for one year and see where it goes, knowing that often the first year of home schooling is the toughest. 

Nathan will stay in his local after school program for social interaction and his grandmother will take him to that on most afternoons. 

I am excited to be joining the home school movement and I will let you know how it's going!