It is great, but not like that.

Y'know, I'm pretty pro-homeschool.  I'm not anti-public school.  But I do love homeschooling.  But sometimes the notions people have about the perks of homeschooling just don't sound so... perky... to me.

"It must be nice to be able to schedule dentist appointments any time of day instead of having to be after 3:15."

Actually, morning appointments totally throw me off.  The students show up late for class.  The teacher even plays hooky.  The whole school shuts down.  And when everyone finally gets around to showing up and getting their pencils sharpened, the routine is completely out the window and I'm stressed because now I'm trying to fit in so many hours' work into a much smaller timeframe.  It makes me grumpy.  I try to stay away from morning dentist appointments.

"It must be great to be able to take days off whenever you want just because you feel like it."

It is great to be flexible enough to schedule vacation time to line up with family visits and trips, but we don't take days off just because I don't feel like doing school some days, or we'd only have school for about three weeks in September when I'm still really pumped about all our shiny books and new curriculum and craft ideas.  Once the glossy covers get all smudgy with fingerprints and I've burned all my energy reserves for the year building a totally sweet miniature Indian village, my excitement wanes.  But we keep doing school anyway.

"It must be great to not have to get up early."

Oh wait.  That is great.  It truly is fabulous.  It's one of the best parts of being a homeschooler.  Every morning that I see the buses rolling around town at 7:45, I rejoice that most of our kids don't have to be up, dressed, fed, functional and on that bus at that precise moment.  That doesn't mean that we laze around in our PJs until noon.  We still have to get our work done, and the earlier we begin each day, the earlier we finish, and vice versa.

Maybe I'm more of a stickler than some other homeschoolers.  Maybe all those "it must be great" comments do apply to some families.  But for me, it's much more satisfying and efficient to get our work done on schedule, every day, staying in the routine, just like "school" is for most people in this country.  But that's just what I think is great about homeschooling.