This is just a vent I have to get off of my chest, so feel free to ignore.

We are military and found out that we will be moving to Ft. Stewart, GA sometime between April and May of '08. We tell family, blah blah, they are excited for us to move away from here, because we just don't really care for this area, and we are ready for a change. So of course, my MIL goes online and looks up all about where we will be moving.

The very first phonecall I get from her after we've emailed the news of course she brings up public school. She tells me how the schools at Ft. Stewart on post are run by DoD rather than by the local school district so she hopes so much that we'll be able to get on post housing so we can get the girls into public school.

Grrrrr. And every time I have talked to her since, of course she brings up the school thing. Yes, part of the reason we are homeschooling here is because the local school district totally sucks. We tried it, for half of K (Hannah was in ps for K in WA so when we moved here, we let her finish the year in ps.) We tried it again for 2nd grade for her, dh was deploying and I was pregnant with #4 and I just didn't feel like I could commit 100% to homeschooling her "properly" whatever that means. We hated it. It just wasn't working for us. But that being said, the bad schools here are not the ONLY reason we are homeschooling. There are many other things that factor into our decision to homeschool and to remain homeschooling.

Is it really so hard to believe that I actually ENJOY homeschooling my children? Really? I mean, sure, there are days where it feels more like a burden than a blessing and days where the thought of being home all day with just the baby is so appealing to me, and days where we don't get done everything I had planned (I am getting much better about that by the way!), but overall, for the majority, I honestly enjoy it. I am already looking forward to switching curriculums next year and trying a more hands on approach and already researching the homeschooling laws in GA. I am not sure how long grade wise in the long run that we will feel comfortable with homeschooling, right now dh is comfortable with schooling up through 6th grade and then putting them in public school so they can get involved in activities/groups of their choosing, and I worry about high school requirements as far as graduation and whatnot go, but that's in the future. My oldest is in 4th grade this year, so we have at least 2 more years to decide what we'll do next.

I really take joy in being my childrens teacher. We are involved in a homeschool group and last Friday we had our Open House and got to go through the classrooms and see what the kids have been learning and they had a program and I got to see my 9yo get up in front of everyone and do a skit from a Shakespeare play, nailing her lines and doing a great job, and watch her sing with the chorus and it just warmed my heart so much. She has come so far socially since we've pulled her out of ps and my girls are just totally flourishing. They are well-adjusted, well-behaved and the major thing is, it's WORKING for us. Why change it???

I admit, it's probably my fault, at least partly, because dh and I have mostly used the "excuse" of the state of the schools here as a reason for homeschooling to pacify family, mostly because we just don't feel the need to get into the nitty gritty details of our decision because it's really none of their business, and our schooling choices for our children don't affect them. But still, we've certainly touted the benefits of homeschooling and how well our girls are doing. I just hate that they automatically assume we will put them in ps when we get to a better school district. Add that to FIL grilling the girls on what they have learned and I am just annoyed, lol.

Anyway, vent over, just had to get that out.

I completely understand!
I get asked all the time how long I think I will keep homeschooling (my oldest one is in 2nd grade) and I tell them, "for as long as it works for us!"
What was done, initially, out of necessity, has turned into a wonderful experience that I wouldn't change unless something traumatic happened to our situation (i.e. I HAD to go back to work and Ken was not available to take my place). I just don't anticipate sending them to school.
I would just tell them that you enjoy it so much that you are not going to put them in PS when you move...why subject them to more upheaval than the move. ;)

GA's something lik 49th out of 50 states in terms of education. Homeschooling is big there.

We got the "you can put them in public schools now that you've left GA and moved somewhere better" speech. Maybe next year, but not now.

Ugh. Sorry you're dealing with that.

I have a MIL who harps on and on about a different subject, and what has really worked for us is that dh and I chose a couple of "soundbite length" phrases that we BOTH use in response to her. We don't explain, we don't argue, we don't even really engage. We use the broken-record technique and just say our little prepared phrases.

If she really wanted to know more, she'd ask. If she actually cared, she'd listen. But it's really about her getting her way in our family's life, and guess what? She had her turn to use her parenting choices. We have considered what she has to say. We just disagree, and now we don't need to hear it anymore.

This has really made it alot easier to give her a cheery response, and she's nagged alot less as it's sunk in that we're not taking the bait.

We use the broken-record technique and just say our little prepared phrases.

Mind sharing with us what they are?

We get the same thing since we moved from GA to DC. We could move to one of the best school districts in the nation when we buy a house. And, yeah, there are some really cool schools in that county. But the kids and I are committed to homeschooling (I've asked them several times as we've been looking at houses in different areas, and they always say they want to keep homeschooling). So it's not going to happen, no matter how good the schools. Heck, it opens our options to living in cheaper places with less fancy schools. ;)

I am probably not going to say the nicest or easiest thing, but truly to end this discussion you just need to be blunt honest with her. I would say something like, " Thank you for wanting to help us with our education decision, we have decided that we will be homeschooling for as long as it works for us. If you would like to help with our homeschooling these... are some items that would be useful, and these... are some things that I think you could do a great job of teaching our girls when you come to visit. Please stop suggesting either subtly or just plain out that my girls need to go to school, I feel very disrespected and hurt by your comments."

If you keep up with the silent and fake pleasant act you will have to continue with what she is doing and will be taking it out on your poor husband by complaining to him and not dealing with the problem head on.

Blessings to you. I know it will seem hard before you do it, but most likely the outcome will be better in the long run, who wants to put up with these "suggestions" for the next 10 years!!