I'll begin by digressing to a time almost twelve years ago. Logan had just been born and all that week I spent in hospital, he suffered bad colic. The midwives would wrap him up firm, rub his back and press his tummy against their shoulders but when none of their tricks worked, they'd hand him back to us and say, "You'll just have to do the best you can." It was always stressful when delighted friends and relatives came to visit with presents, and the little man of the moment would arch his back and scream non-stop all the time they were there. The sight of his screwed-up little face was almost more than I could bear without bursting into tears and I remember telling Andrew, "How terrible I feel, to bring a new person into the world when all he's going to do is be miserable!"

Now fast forward another eight years. Logan was hating school. Every morning I'd shake him awake to get ready and he'd groan and ask, "How long to the week-end?" When we'd pick him up after school, he'd be tired for the remaining few hours of the afternoon before tea. Emma would be disappointed because she'd been looking forward to seeing him all day and he just wanted to flake out instead of playing with her. He'd grumble at bed time and the following day, the process would begin all over again. Sometimes I'd drive him to school and sometimes Andrew, who was still working in accounting, would give him a lift on the way to work.

I clearly remember one morning in particular when I dropped Logan off. The road to school was a very beautiful country road, but suddenly he remarked, "I hate this road!"

"Do you?"

"Yep. I hate those wetlands and those haystacks and I hate those sheds and I hate those cows chewing the grass over there and I hate that gate to the walking trail and I hate that house with the gables and I hate those purple flowers. Do you know why?"

We asked him, "Why?"

"Because they all lead to school." By then we were there. I watched him climb out and walk through the gate across the schoolyard to his classroom. His head was bowed and his face had the set, resolute expression that we all knew. A teacher mentioned once to me, "Logan tends to sit at the back with a bored and dreamy look on his face. Have you any idea why?" Andrew told me later that the obvious answer would have been, "It's because he is bored and dreamy in your classroom."

Anyway, I used to hate school myself and felt really sad to think that he was suffering too. Forcing ourselves to do what we hate really isn't any sort of life for anyone. There, sitting there in the car, that flashback at the hospital when he was baby hit me. I'd said, "I hate the thought of bringing a new person into the world just to be miserable." And it swept over me again. That was basically what spurred out decision to take him out of school for homeschooling.

Just a few weeks before the term ended and we bit the bullet and made the move, the class had taken them for a walking trek along Springs Road to the wetlands to examine pond slime and bird life. It was quite a long walk for little eight year olds. They were all wearing their winter sport track-suits because the morning had been chilly but it warmed up during the walk. The fleecy windcheater had made Logan's back sweat and his feet were aching as they returned back along that road he hated. But he reported to me later that when it seemed they'd been walking hours and the school buildings came in sight, he thought, "For the first time in my life, I'm actually glad to see the horrible place!"

So our simple reason to begin homeschooling was that the alternative was causing him too much grief and having been through twelve plus years of it myself, I just couldn't stand it. It was just a few months after taking Logan out of school that Andrew decided he'd really had a gutful of accounting after several years and handed in his notice. So now life is far simpler. Looking back, it just seems like totally craziness to remember all those days, weeks, months and years of waving goodbye to Andrew and Logan whenever they set off together in the morning, considering that both of them were going to places they couldn't stand being at. Life has truly changed around here in the last three years and they are definitely changes for the better.