Who Am I? 

And wouldn't I like to know!

At this stage in my life, I am primarily a homeschooling mom to two sweet, lovable boys, Jason and Kyle (they keep getting older, so I will tell you that they were born in 1996 and 2000. You can do the math and that way I don't have to remember to update this page!) We have been homeschooling in the Old Dominion (otherwise known as Virginia) since 2001, starting when Jason would have been in kindergarten, after he had attended 2 years of a play-based preschool. 

I am not what many people would consider a “typical” homeschooler. I actually enjoy the surprised looks I get when people find out. I am a Unitarian Universalist and support progressive causes (yes, liberals can and do homeschool!). I am an idealist who has given up being embarrassed by this fact as I believe that this world could do with more of us. I also have a libertarian streak, which I know sounds like it must be a contradiction with being a liberal, but, hey, I am full of contradictions.

I am not exactly sure of our homeschooling style…we do what seems to work at the time. And that is constantly changing as I learn more about the boys and myself. I guess you could call us very relaxed eclectic with strong unschooling leanings. For me it is a constant striving for that elusive thing called balance.

I have been married to a wonderful guy, Jeff since 1991. We met my freshman year at Virginia Tech while in the Marching Virginians (I played clarinet and Jeff played baritone) and needless to say, we are die hard Hokie fans. Jeff started his own IT consulting company, Delta Solutions and Technologies in 1997 which has grown steadily ever since (and is the reason I have been able to be home with my kids!)

Before kids, I was an information technology consultant. That lasted for about 7 years until I quit my job in the summer of 1998 when Jason was turning 2 and I was turning 30 (I had gone part-time when Jason was born).  When I worked, I enjoyed what I did (mostly writing system requirements and design documents and providing user training on large mainframe accounting systems). But eventually, I was enjoying it less and less and enjoying being with Jason more and more. We were in a good position for me to stay home, so I did and I have never regretted it.

I have found that being home with my kids and homeschooling in particular has been an extremely empowering experience. I realize that this goes against the commonly accepted concept of the self-sacrificing homeschool mom who has no life outside of her children. But contrary to popular belief, I have found it easier to discover who I am and what my passions are since I quit my job. When I worked, I did not seem to have the need to explore this area...my job pretty much defined who I was and for awhile was all encompassing. No need to look any further.

Since I have been home with my kids, I have found more of a need as well as more time available for finding my passions. Yes, right now, some of these passions are related to my kids and to homeschooling. But not all.

I am very involved in The Organization of Virginia Homeschoolers, my inclusive, statewide homeschooling organization and am finding that I have a passion for helping new homeschoolers get started. I help organize seminars across the state to help new and experienced homeschoolers and I write articles for the newsletter. I am also the webmaster and have been teaching myself HTML. If you live in Virginia, consider volunteering! We have lots of jobs, big and small and we depend on our members to keep the organization running. I am a moderator of the Virginia Eclectic Homeschool list, a large statewide support list, several local lists, as well as the Homeschooling Creatively list for right-brained learners. I find homeschool email lists to be an incredible resource as well as a tremendous source of support.

Blogging serves as a major creative outlet for me...I have come to realize how much I enjoy writing and how much I use writing to help me think through different ideas. Not to mention how much you learn by reading the various blogs out there (talk about addiction!) In addition to Throwing Marshmallows, I am a featured author on the Life Without School Blog. LWoS is made up of a varied group of homeschooling moms who enjoy talking about our and our kids’ lives without school. Definitely check it out.

Another creative outlet is my photography. I have always enjoyed taking pictures and in 2006 I got my first DSLR camera, a Canon EOS 30D. I love it and have only scratched the surface of what I can do with it. One wonderful perk of being home with my kids is that I have had more time to really delve into my photography since I can take my camera with me where ever I go. As homeschoolers, we tend to visit a lot of different places (parks, museums, battlefields, Washington DC, campgrounds, beaches) that I probably would not have made time to visit when I was working. This affords me a variety of subject matter for my pictures.

In addition to taking pictures of my kids, I have a special fondness for photographing old buildings, doors, windows and trees. I am still learning about post processing (currently using Photoshop Elements while I am working up my courage to try Photoshop) and am finding that there is a lot of room for exercising your creativity in this area as well.

This has gotten longer than I had planned (you will find that this happens a lot when I write), so I will end with my favorite quote (and where I got the idea for the title of this blog):

“Learning can only happen when a child is interested. If he’s not interested it’s like throwing marshmallows at his head and calling it eating.” –Barbara Lamping

I absolutely love the imagery as well as the message.