Learning School, But Not Life.

As a guy that's been in public, private, and homeschooling, I've been able to get around and see different styles of how things operate and run. The inner gears that make a style of school tick and run. In short, the politics of it all. I might blog later about public and private school, but right now, I want to focus on homeschooling. For those that know, I'm not a huge fan of school right now, because I'm at home, with free time when I'd rather be out at a school, cramming to get essays and homework turned in, with little to no free time, but God dealed me these cards, and I make the best of it.

Thankfully I get invited to parties and school functions by my friends back at BCHS. In fact, next Friday night I'll be at the powderpuff game supporting my girlfriend and then we'll be hitting up the Sadie Hawkins dance after the game. But what I find entertaining is making fun of this whole homeschooling deal. I'm a part of some organization that gets homeschooled kids together to science labs, or creative writing, and...

...wait for it...

...Proms and Homecomings.


I got an e-mail the other day with an invite to go to the annual Formal dance party the organization puts together. Now to keep other people out of this, I've blocked out names addresses and such, but this is what I got in my e-mail.
My comments on this e-mail are in green.

FORMAL TIME FOR 9th-12th GRADE HOMESCHOOLERS

Hi everyone, it is that time of year again. Formal Time!

This year will be a little different. We are going back to an era when ladies were ladies and gentlemen were real gentlemen and they both acted like it!

It's

Dancing Under the Stars 40's Style

Get out your best ,most conservative evening wear, your dance card and come have a blast.

(dance card will be provided)

What's a dance card? Do I have to apply for it before dancing?

Do I show my dance card to the girl I wish to dance with? And if she accepts my dance card, is there a transaction of some sort? punch a hole in it? Scan it? gold sticker it?

What happens if I get denied?

We will be serving a sit-down dinner under the stars and enjoying a night of food, friends and fun.

Our most important guest will be our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! We will have an ice breaker with an appetizer.

 Then we will praise and honor the One who gave

us the freedom to join together. The night will keep moving

40's style with a fun game, then dinner will be served. While dinner is being served, we will enjoy a

fun video of days gone by and not-so-gone-by!

not so gone by...does that mean we're celebrating today?

To keep the night moving, there will be give-aways (used erector set? deck of cards from the 'field trip' to the Grand Canyon?), prizes, games, ping-pong, air hockey, basketball, billiards, volleyball and dance-card dancing. (again with the dance card dancing! I swear this sounds like a Fall Out Boy song title.)

1- 5x7 photo will be provided with each paid attendee

(this means they're using up the extra rolls of film from the grand canyon field trip)

It will be held at the XXXXXX's house 

 Saturday May 21, 2011 

Considering the fact that the party will be held at the XXXXXX's home, there are a few things everyone should be aware of:

First and foremost our house is the Lord's, and everything we do here we try to do to honor our Savior.

That said, here are the rules.........which we feel will help us honor God with all our soul, mind, strength and heart.

There will be NO:

foul language

dirty dancing

public display of affection

mini skirts

strapless or skinny straps on dresses (unless covered with a wrap that is worn AT ALL TIMES)

overly tight clothes

under garments showing

backless clothing

cleavage

vulgar words or pictures on clothing

rudeness

over-all disrespect for each other

(needless to say, if Charlie Sheen and his girlfriends do it, you can't.)

There WILL be:

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness and self-control, along with a H-U-G-E amount of fun!

(I'm calling them out. Plagiarism on the Bible!) 

I am sure there will be some who think these guidelines are a bit over the to (a bit? I'm a pretty modest guy, but dang...); if that is your view, then this formal IS NOT for you.

Don't waste your time or ours.  If you still want to attend and do not follow the guidelines our family has in place, you will

be asked to spend the rest of the night inside (give me a deck of cards and a glass full of water, and I'll show you a better time inside doing card tricks than the whole party will have combined.), will be asked to wear a t-shirt over your outfit, or told to leave.

This is not a joke, and shouldn't be taken lightly. All who know us are aware of the high standard we

have when it comes to functions at our (the Lord's) house. We are not perfect, but we are to be like Christ more and more each day.

If you have doubts about an outfit.......don't wear it. Or you may send a picture of yourself in the outfit to me and I will either "ok" it or give "thumbs down"(can you say 'hot or not'?).

This goes for any person who accompanies you. We encourage no boy friend/ girl friend relationships here, but if you do bring your "friend"(just a hunch here, but I think they're not big on teen relationships.) he or she will be required to follow ALL of the above rules. It will be your responsibility (the home schooler) to inform your friend of the guidelines.

If you are interested in attending, email me and I will send you the acknowledgement form. You can send the paperwork back along with your check.

The cost will be $45.00 per person. (Remember, that is a meal, 5x7 photo, snacks and attendance to the formal)

 There will be no ticket sales at the door.  All tickets must be bought in advance by May 14th.

Sorry, no refunds.

Parents, I would like to have chaperones for the whole night (even if you can only help part of the time).

 If you are willing to handle this job I will need to have 6-8 parents who will agree to chaperone at a certain station and refrain from congregating with other adult chaperones. (this is what got me. You want parents to help out...with homeschool kids. Who are stereotypically undeniably antisocial...and yet you want them to REFRAIN from CONGREGATION with other adults. You're asking them to come watch a collection of socially awkward boys and girls, for a full night, without talking to other parents encompassing the rest of the dance floor. That is insane. No thanks.)

Dinner will be provided for your service.

 Please RSVP ASAP so I can pass on that info to the other families. If you are willing to help, email

me and I will send you the list of stations and times that I will need covered.

This will be a blessed night that could provide godly, uplifting memories. Please come and join us.

I'm a Christian, but I'm not strict like this. I think families like this fail to realize that Jesus hung out with the non Christians who swore, had PDA, and excessive skin showing. And that's what I base my life off of. I hang out with everyone. I don't care what you believe. If we can find a common ground on sports, movies, music, whatever it may be, we're good. I'm not gonna judge because it's not my place. If you want to live your life one way, go for it. It's your life, not mine.

But this not only gives off a bad image, it just makes Christians look really pious and uppity. I can't help but make fun of it because it's so absurd. I think Christians really need to realize that we can't be Bible thumpers who damn people to hell because they don't believe in what we do. Not everyone is going to believe the same thing. If they did, then we'd have a utopia, and that's never going to happen.

And as a final note, I think homeschoolers miss out on life at times, because some don't really get out. To live in the world, you don't need to be of it, but at least see what's out there.

It's funny how some miss the boat on things.