Abigail is ten, she has a cell phone to communicate because she doesn't live with both parents. Tonight she took it upon herself to message a nameless someone and voice her opinion to make a request. We had discussed the issue for nearly 40 minutes today. She brought it up out of the blue and I listened, more than a little shocked at her knowledge and preparation, but I told her to wait and talk to him about it in person. She had been researching on her own and was determined to get him to listen to her. She was so confident and excited that she texted him, entirely on her own. Now she has seen a side of this person that I tried repeatedly to protect her from. I didn't even know she had taken her phone outside, and she came inside with an overcast face and tears in her eyes. After reading the message, I was speechless and all I could do was hug her, take the phone and tell her to go outside and come back to it later. Which she did, to no avail and it breaks my heart to know that it is purely because of his flawed opinion of me, that he will deny his child the opportunity to try to excel.
He took her reasoning as an insult to his intelligence. He threw his 3 degrees in her face. That last degree that cost her a family as it stole every bit of security from her world. Three degrees mean nothing but pain and abandonment to this girl. She is pure in that she has not yet learned the bias of respecting people because they have a degree or money, .
He thinks her mom is stupid and worthless. And now she knows this, because he offensively told her he didn't know any
homeschooler who had accomplished as much as he had. She thinks I am one of the smartest people she knows. She does not respect him because of those papers framed and hung on the wall. Just like she doesn't not respect me because I don't have them (yet). Intelligence and education are feeble words to a child...they learn by example. They watch what we do, more than they listen to what we say. So, no matter how many times he tries, as long as he acts like this, she will never really trust him. She will never be open to him and he will never know our daughter. He is too busy building walls, stacking one close-minded brick at a time. My heart aches for my daughter.
1 comment:
For one, I feel for Abi! It breaks my heart that she feels so strong about this and that person, who should be supporting her, cuts her down about the one thing that she is desiring. Wow! 3 degrees! As Shania Twain said in her song..."That don't impress me much!" I can't see how he feels that teaching children the standardized test (which public school does) is enough. It's not. There are tons of great curriculum out there, including mine, that teach them exactly what they need so they can succeed in college. He needs to do the research. Homeschoolers are actually succeeding in college better than public schoolers. In fact, statistics show that most public school kids are having a hard time even passing remedial English and remedial math in college. That is sad. And it is all because of the public school system just focusing on having the kids learn the standardized tests just so their school can make the "grade". And last time I checked, there are tons of homeschool successes. Here are some: Venus and Serena Williams, Sandra Day O'Connor, Tim Tebow, Agatha Christie, Thomas Edison, Bethany Hamilton,Franklin Delano Roosevelt, William Blount, George Clymer, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, George Washington, Grover Cleveland, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Daniel Webster,Stonewall Jackson, George Patton, John Jay, George Washington Carver, Alexander Graham Bell, Eli Whitney, etc. I can go on and on. In that list are judges, presidents, supreme court, house of representatives, celebrities, inventors, authors, etc. seriously there are tons more! I think I would hold them up in higher regard than a "3 degree veterinarian". I bet others would agree. Jinon, I think you should do what you feel is best for your children, since it seems like you are the only one that cares. If he don't like it, oh well! He can take you to court but Texas is really for homeschooling plus I can show you where you can be protected by the homeschool legal defense action and the Texas homeschool coalition association. Love you!
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