Even on the longest and most tiresome days of being a single parent, homeschooling and working from home, I lay down in bed each night grateful that I am able to remain at home with my daughter, being the one teacher most intimately involved in her life.

Each morning the high school students in the neighborhood troop past my house at 0700 (that's 7 a.m. to you civilian types), rubbing their eyes and grumpily clutching bookbags loaded with dry, dull textbooks.  (Boy, do I remember those days!)  An hour or so later, the littles and middle schoolers gather on the sidewalk in front of my house to wait for their bus.  We don't see any of them for hours and hours later, unless there's a surprising snow day or the teachers need a half day to process their multitude of administrative tasks.

By 0815 the neighborhood is quiet.  The kids have gone to school, the adults have gone to work, and those of us left at home go about our days.  We are predominately housewives, many military with husbands deployed, and then me, the single mum fighting with her laptop to earn a living, and my kindergarten-age Kidling.  We do our chores, run errands, chat with the neighbors.  Throughout the day, as I work, I look up to see my daughter dancing around the hall in her ballet leotard, with a dress-up purse hanging from her shoulder, as she sings a song.  (Can you guess what she's doing right this moment?)

Later we'll read stories, watch shows together, cook meals, walk the dog, check the mail...whatever needs to be done, but we'll do it together.  The first time she wrote her name by herself she didn't bound off the bus and throw a piece of paper in my hands.  She stood up and walked across the room to show it to me and we celebrated our hard work together.

Then there are the even more emotionally binding days, one of which I wrote about when I first created this blog.  "It's Not Just a Rock" was only my second entry, but as I revisit it, I can remember how lucky I felt to be home with her all day during her illness and to be able to slow things down to just the pace she needed. 

Yes, I homeschool for academic excellence.  No one can provide a one-on-one educational experience that focuses on my child's unique skills and needs like I can.

Yes, I homeschool for political reasons.  I want my daughter to learn the roles and beliefs my ex-husband and I hold, without being swayed by a multitude of opinions stated by others as "facts".

Most of all, I homeschool because I am selfish.  I want to learn with my daughter.  I want her to learn from me, and I want to stretch, grow and learn because of her.  I don't want to work around a school district's schedule, curriculum, or protocols.  I want to instill in my daughter a love of learning, and I want her to have the time to treasure whatever it is she holds dear.

Even if it is "just" a rock.