Yesterday I wore my "Homeschool Mom" t-shirt.  I've worn it out and about before, but mostly only to homeschool gatherings, Bible study, and the like, so I hadn't gotten any comments other than "I like your shirt."  I had a few errands to run yesterday, visited my grandmother, went to the library, and took R to ballet class all wearing the shirt, and the reactions I got were interesting (to me, at least).

Let me preface this by saying that when we were homeschooling in Florida, when I was asked why my children were not in school and I said "we homeschool," I received only positive feedback.  Everyone I encountered said "Oh!  My niece/sister/best friend's cousin homeschools, and I think it's wonderful!"  Many older adults said things like, "If I had to raise my children today, I'd homeschool too."  I was asked fairly often, I guess, and maybe a few times I got The Look or a noncommital "Hm."

Since coming back to Connecticut, I've noticed that most people don't ask questions.  J's karate teacher asked once, because we'd stopped in to fill out paperwork in the middle of the day, and he looked surprised, but said "that's great."  I volunteered the information to the children's daytime librarian, and she was very nice and accepting.  Our upstairs neighbors think we're strange, but that's fine by me.  Other than those instances, I don't think it's really come up. 

Then I wore the shirt.

The people at the dentist's office know I homeschool and did not say anything about my shirt.  My grandmother also knows that we homeschool, and said "I like your shirt."  The man at Burger King didn't say anything, and the woman at the gas station was busy asking R to share her Snapple with her (which was a bit disturbing in itself), and did not notice, I don't think.  I stopped to see my father, who also did not comment.  At this point, I had completely forgotten that I was even wearing the shirt.

Fast forward to the library.  I ran down to the children's department to drop off some books, and the nighttime children's librarian was there.  She said, "you do'nt even look old enough to be someone's mother, much less a homeschooling mom!"  Um, okay.  I smiled and said "ok, thanks!" and went upstairs to the adult section.  (I didn't have the kids with me, as J was home with  John, and R was already at ballet.)

I went to check out my books upstairs, and one of the adult librarians came over and asked if I homeschooled.  I smiled and said yes.  She proceeded to ask me all about the law in Connecticut.  Since I was under the assumption that she was simply curious and was not intending to homeschool her own children, I gave a pleasant and non-specific response, something like "oh, Connecticut is an easy state to homeschool in."  She then went on for a bit about how the laws must be in place for the State to evaluate the children, how did I prove to people that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, and why do homeschoolers not have to take standardized tests?  I mostly smiled and nodded at her, as I really did not feel obligated or inclined to answer her line of interrogation. 

Finally, I went to pick up R at ballet.  The moms there said "Oh, you homeschool?  I didn't know that!"  and went on to tell me that they thought homeschooling was great, but could never do it themselves, as they were not organized.  I could have told them the ugly truth and said, "neither am I!" but I did some more smiling and nodding. 

To be honest, I was very surprised that anyone said anything at all about my shirt!  I read EVERYTHING, and I typically don't read, and I almost never comment on other people's tshirts.  It makes me want to run out and get advocacy t-shirts for all sorts of things, just to gauge people's reactions.  What a sociological project that would be! 

Moral of the story:  Don't grab the first clean thing you see out of the basket of clean laundry.  Check to see what the shirt is advocating and decide if you would like to participate in discussions with acquaintances and strangers about your cause. 

Have a nice Thursday!