I am totally aware that a lot of the choices that my hubbie and I have made are not what most people would make.  And I am totally happy with that.  We choose to have kids, our kids are amazing, I honestly would not change them and I don’t want to “Fix them” Please don’t get me started on the backward thinking the kids on the spectrum need to be fixed somehow because that makes me crazy mad.  Kids on the spectrum may not view the world as most kids do but that does not mean we need to force them into some predetermine mold that society has deemed correct.  My kids do have additional challenges and that is why we choose to home-educate them so I could offer them as much support as possible and so that they could grow up knowing they are fine, just the way they are, that they don’t need to be fixed.

Our decision to home-educate means I gave up a career and we halved out income, it means we don’t do fancy,  but then fancy was not ever really that important to me.  Giving up my career may mean we do not have new cars or nice furniture but it means I get to be a full-time mom, I get to be there when the kids are facing challenges and I get to watch them learn and grow.  We get to spend ages on topics that the kids find interesting, we get to spend as long as we need on topics that they may struggle with and we get to explore their strengths and hopefully build their confidence.

Don’t get me wrong being a home-educating mom is not all roses, I do not always respond the way I should when we are dealing with sensory-tough situations, I loose my cool way too often, I don’t always know the answers but I never stop trying.  My kids are no stranger to hearing me say I’m sorry and they know they can tell me if I have been a “grumpy mom ” and I will not be offended.  I don’t have much of a social life (I do have some amazing mom’s in my life who I really appreciate), but I have no need for going-out-clothes (wellies are much more important these days) and the knowledge of which are the best restaurants in town is totally wasted on me.  But then I don’t feel like I am missing out.

Home-educating is not for everyone and those families that do choose to educate at home do it differently to us, they make different choices, choices that suit their families.

So my choices may be different to yours but I am OKAY with that because I would not change one thing about my kids and I feel so lucky that I get to spend my days with them.