She goes to preschool. I go, too.

So, today.

All you moms who are on Facebook and you're posting sweet photos of your sweet little ones decked out with new shoes, brand-spankin-new backpacks and those fabulous pencil bouquets.  Your kiddos are SO CUTE!  Oh, and also: your posts about how sad/excited you are to have some free time to yourself while the kids are at preschool?  YOU MAKE ME SICK!  {If you were here, you'd see my big sarcastic smile, and you'd immediately stop with the hate mail you're about to press send on.  Just trust me on this one.}

I'm green, to be more precise.  Green with more than a little touch of envy.

Because we too have met that milestone here in our house.

We, too, put on shiny new(ish) shoes, donned that backpack that is so cute on account of its 70% size-to-wearer ratio.  

We too went on a howcuteareyouonyourfirstdayofpreschool?! photo binge.

But, when we were finished that age-old first day ritual, we did not get in the car and drive away to meet teachers and classmates.  No, no.  Instead, we did this:

and went right back inside.  

Because, folks?  We're homeschooling.

Yep, you heard that right.  Break out your pitchforks.  I can already hear you thinking, first the breadmaking and now THIS?  Where does it end?!  

If it's coming as a shock to you, you're in good company.  I don't know that I've talked about this before.  It's one of those things I've felt called to do pretty much since that pretty baby made her appearance on this Earth.  It was NOT something I planned on when I imagined having kids. It was not something I knew when I was pregnant with Leah.  As a child, when I envisioned my life as a teacher, there was absolutely a classroom and like 25+ kids involved, so I can be completely honest when I tell you that the desire to homeschool was a surprise even to me.

Someday, I'll tell you all about the reasons behind our decision.  They are obviously multifaceted and largely involve two things: 1) faith and 2) my own experiences as a public education teacher.

For now, I'll suffice it to say that I feel so, so good about the decision.  And also completely slightly terrified.  And more than a little overwhelmed when I think about how many years it's going to be before I am ever alone in this house again. GULP.

This choice is not for everyone, I realize, but it's one that we as a family are so ridiculously excited about.  All joking and snarking aside, we're psyched.  We feel extremely lucky that, after all these years of talk, we're able to take full advantage of the opportunity.   

Of course, we're only one day in, so I'll keep you posted...