Explaining unschooling to my parents

Today was so full of blog topics I don't know which one to choose. My house got cleaned, happily; The Halloween candy is gone; Owen is emerging from the video games in the basement to eat healthy and become part of the family again; Bridget is so excited to learn anything and everything; E is getting much better at consensual living with the kids; I got to test drive my 2008 Chrysler Town and Country; I got to go shopping with my mom and do some bonding with my parents over dinner.

Most of these topics are self explanitory or I will hit on them in future posts, so I think I'm going to go with the time I spent with my parents today. My mom has been asking me random questions about unschooling off and on for the last month or so. She wanted to know if unschooling is legal, how my kids are going to learn various skills, how my kids are going to be evaluated/tested, how I know that my kids are learning enough, etc. Usually, the questions come one at a time at the end of a phone conversation when neither of us really have time to talk.

Today, she called to invite me to go shopping with her. I needed some fall clothes, so I agreed to go. As long as I was going to be near the Chrysler dealership, I asked her if she wanted to come along on my test drive. She seemed happy to go. The test drive went awesome. I asked all my questions, then drove the car to my parents house for my dad to see. We all three had a fun time experimenting with all the gadgets and agreed it was a very nice car. After we returned the car, we went shopping. It was one of those rare moments when mothers and daughters can spend time laughing at gawdy clothes and marveling at the beautiful ones. We haven't had time alone to enjoy each other's company for a long time. It was really nice to reconnect.

Later, we went to grab a quick bite to eat. While we were sitting at the table, my mom got out her questions again. This time I was able to give complete explanations with examples. I could tell my dad was even interested in the conversation because he would lean in to hear better every now and then. It felt great to share my ideas with a receptive audience. They didn't judge and genuinely tried to understand. It also helped me reaffirm my reasons for unschooling in my own mind. Our quick bite to eat turned into a ninety minute discussion, but the only one who seemed to be in a hurry was the waitress. I realized tonight that I really do still value my parents support in my decisions. Answering their questions helped me realize how far I've come in my thinking in just a short time and how much farther I still have to go.