My cute kids

I'm going to admit something very shallow and vain this morning. One of the things I worry about with homeschooling is that my kids are going to look...homeschooled. You know what I mean. Bad hair, clothes that don't match or fit, goofy, slightly vacant smiles - basic disregard for personal appearance and hygiene. I don't know why I associate these things with homeschooling, because I've been to lots of homeschooling things and this definitely isn't the norm, but I think it's the picture society has painted of our kids - backwoodsy hicks that are totally clueless about how to fit in with the rest of the world. I'm not so sure that's all bad, but it's not all true either. So for one thing, I need to focus on more important stuff and stop being so concerned with appearances (hygiene, yes; appearance, no), and for another, I need to be proud of my kids for who they are. And they ARE cute, darn it. Here's a picture from Grandpa Jim's funeral day, on which the boys got to wear "suits" and sunglasses and look grown up. Jim would have gotten a kick out of them strutting up to the church with their hands in their pockets and their glasses on.