My family is a unicorn here. I am secularly homeschooling a gifted only child in a rural Texas town. Oooh, just typing it out makes me wonder why I even bothered trying to fit in around here. It was doomed to fail from the start. There are 2 or 3 other secular families here, but they are either radical unschoolers or into super woo-woo pseudo-science. When I've tried to talk about what our day looks like or books we use, people have just stopped me and said "This is all too weird" and laughed.

I know that I am not completely anonymous here, but it would take effort for someone to figure out who I am in real life. I"m sure it wouldn't take a huge amount of time, but it would still require someone to make a purposeful attempt to dox me. But on facebook, my name is right there, and you can easily figure out where I live based on pages I've interacted with. My weirdness about this topic is because I kept "bumping into" local people in large national groups and feeling like I needed to bite my tongue to avoid offending someone or getting pounced on. That's disappointing because the whole reason I seek out bigger or different groups is because we've struggled to find a community we really belong to here. I do not feel like I can speak openly in the local groups. I have to bite my tongue a lot in my area. It's a small town and everyone is in everyone else's business and has an opinion about it.

Why does it make you sad? I was 10 in 1982. I'm not sure how to respond to people lamenting "The Good Old Days". It makes me feel a bit discouraged.

I joined the facebook group. But can I ask a silly question? Why not try to post more about DIY homeschooling here on the WTM forums? Why reinvent the wheel? I'd be more than happy to discuss what we're doing in our homeschool, but I have to admit that none of it sounds as lofty and noble as the things Ester Maria wrote about. I suspect there are a lot of "newer" homeschool parents that are doing a bang-up job of putting together their own programs, but feel intimidated to post about what they are doing as being judged "not good enough". To be truthful, I'm not even sure what is meant exactly by DIY homeschooling or "designing your own curriculum". When I read "design your own curriculum", I think "These ladies are writing books from scratch and teaching their kids from there". Which is...outrageously intimidating, if it's true. If what you mean is "We're carefully selecting books to read and discuss, and I design my own questions, projects, and tests", that is far less intimidating!

I sent a request to join the facebook group. I would love to learn more about creating our own curriculum!

I've gotten McDonalds once and some wrapped to-go brisket sandwiches from Bucees once. Restaurants are terrible around here. If they were of better quality, I'd have gone a bit more often. Get your elders some Longhorn if that is what they are craving. It's very low-risk and will bring them great joy.

Yeah, my dad has made some...really puzzling decisions over the last few years. I don't fear for his immediate physical safety; he's not going to burn the house down or fall or anything like that. But the critical thinking skills are not where they used to be. And yes, he's made some baffling choices regarding covid. There's a lot I'm ignoring because I really can't change his mind or effect any change from where I am (we're 1000+ miles apart). 😕

This isn't remotely close to what I said. Why are you trying to pick a fight here?

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Respectfully, most people that ask about kids in school are just wanting to make conversation and find common ground to talk. "Going to School" is a milestone with cute photo ops for little kids. That's really all people want to hear about. Is kiddo excited about school? Do they want to ride the bus? Did they pick out a lunch box? That sort of thing. That's really all they are getting at. They aren't looking to pick a fight and are going to react poorly if you come at them with talking points about Why School Is Wrong and Abusive. Most people really don't care what you are doing. If you don't want to be seen as judgmental about other families choices, then stop judging them. If you really don't know what to say, you can be honest "He's not old enough yet. He's tall for his age."

I've switched tactics from informing or correcting (which is often perceived as lecturing), to asking them to explain their theory. "But why would the CDC and WHO be in cahoots?" ...Blah blah blah crazy theory here... "I don't get it. But why would that be true? But why? Why?" I keep asking them to explain whatever weird idea they have, in depth. They get frustrated and eventually stop. I'm hoping that once they realize they can't explain their crazy theories, they'll stop to think a little.

I lean more towards introversion than extroversion, so I can go for awhile without feeling agitated by a lack of socialization. I've never viewed this situation as a "forever" thing. I feel like it's just a season we have to go through. Personally, I hope that society does not return to a frenetic "Go go go! More more more!" pace. I often found contemporary American society exhausting. It's loud, it's busy, everyone is overscheduled so there is no time for quality interactions. For me, I'd rather have 3 or 4 good, deep relationships that I see less frequently than a dozen "Hey, how're you doing?" type interactions as I shop.

a) Get a whole lot of therapy b) Dump him c) And then dump the next "him" before marrying him

It is unbearable in the summer. We have never bought a pass to the water parks here because it is so hot in summer. It's not fun to be there when it is 105 out. Our yard has zero shade, too. I contemplated buying a pool, but without shade, forget it. We usually do a lot of schoolwork in the summer, so we can have a nice spring and fall break. This year just stinks for so many reasons. 😕

The crisis schoolers I know are freaking out and frazzled. I don't blame them for feeling that way. What I have to offer doesn't seem to be what they are looking for, however. The ones that have asked me for help give me crazy eye when they hear my suggestions. I asked one to tell me more about their schedules, school requirements, and which parent would be doing the bulk of the teaching, so I could give more specific advice. Crazy eyes! "I just need some worksheets and websites to keep him busy". Oh, ok. Can't help you there. I had two people call in the middle of the day, requesting video chats that were really just virtual babysitting. "Can your son talk to my kids? I have so much work to do and I just need to keep my kid busy for awhile". Um...we have schoolwork, and my 11 year old doesn't have much to say to your 5 year old.

I expect a lot of patients would get turfed to hospitals in San Antonio or Austin. Probably SA, because it's a bit closer. @Dreamergal Regarding complacency due to low cases, people here seem to think that because our cases are not high now, they can never possibly be high. They don't seem to grasp that people can leave our town and county and go to another town/county, get sick there, and then bring it back here. They say things like "The heat will kill the virus". If it's on a surface, yes, probably it will die in the Texas summer heat. I am not worried about picking up the virus from a picnic table at the park or a gas pump handle this summer. 😉 But the heat isn't in one's lungs, and the heat isn't going to help one little bit if you are sitting in a packed, air conditioned restaurant or movie theater, breathing in everyone else's exhaled breaths.

I have no preference either way...? I was merely offering up what I thought was an interesting link. I had no idea the number of viruses that are present in semen after an illness, and I'd guess many people don't either. It's not a criticism of anything you wrote. I seem to be very out of sync with the board dynamic today, because this is the 3rd time I've said something that I thought was neutral and it's being received differently than I intend it.

There are a lot of viruses that show up in body fluids. Some are transmitted sexually, others are not. Apparently, chicken pox is present in semen for a time, but it's not an STD. So it's still too early to say whether this is a potential route for infection. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5652425/

Because some people are mean? Schadenfreude is a real thing. My point above is that I've seen a lot of media reports reporting "surges" and "spikes" in Texas, while not reporting much of anything about a place with twice as many new daily cases. I think that's kind of weird.

I am not making a generalization about other areas, nor do I doubt that other locations aren't struggling. It was asked by another poster exactly where people were experiencing trouble over masks, because they only saw people happily complying with the recommendations. Well, I live in a place where people aren't happily complying. As for re-opening, Texas has been stable, despite the constant Impending Doom Reports from the media predicting a NYC style meltdown any day now. I feel like many media outlets would be really excited to see a big state like Texas fail spectacularly. I'm actually way more concerned about what's going on in Illinois than I am about Texas right now.

I think the parade and fireworks show is a bad idea from the start. Philadelphia demonstrated that 100+ years ago. If they insist on going forward with a parade, then they are going to need to either limit viewing or extend the route, so everyone can spread out. They don't want to do either of those things, so the only other option would be to have everyone wear a mask. They don't want to do that either. Basically, everyone wants life to be like it was before and they don't want to have to think about covid at all. When presented with any option to adjust to the situation, people have complained "But that's not how we've traditionally done it!" or "You can't force us to do that!" We have a chicken processing plant here that, so far, has not been impacted by covid. I am very worried for the people that work there. Our local hospital has *NINE* ICU beds and will not be able to handle it if an outbreak occurs at the chicken plant. It's probably social distancing, the weather, and a bit of luck that has kept an outbreak from popping up there. If we go forward with large public gatherings and take zero precautions, then we may not be so lucky any longer.

Agreed. I have family in Nassau and Suffolk counties in NY. They commute into NYC for work and are convinced the whole thing is exaggerated or a hoax, and there is nothing you can say to convince them otherwise.

My county only has about 125 cumulative cases. I think my town has less than 10. So yes, the odds are extremely low that I will contract covid. And I would not blink about a farmer not wearing a mask here, because why would s/he? I visited outside with a friend a few weeks ago, and we did not wear masks. We just stayed 6 feet apart and stood so the wind was blowing away from us. No issues there. But inside a store like Walgreens, yes, wear a mask. Walgreens is small. Maybe you don't need to wear a mask inside a big store, like Home Depot where there is good air circulation and people can spread out. I'm too grumpy right now to fully articulate my thoughts, but briefly, my position is this: not every place is NYC and Long Island, and not every place is rural Texas. Whatever guidelines are issued by government should take into consideration what is happening in those locations, with the understanding that guidelines may need to change depending on the developing situation.

I think it's so stupid this has become a political issue. I could also do with 100% less of people insisting that because their little corner of the world is humming along nicely that anyone else who's experiencing a problem must be exaggerating, misunderstanding, or outright lying about what's happening. 😠

I live in a small town between San Antonio and Austin. My husband is a native Texan from another small town in Victoria county, and his friends there are reporting the same thing; being challenged and insulted while wearing a mask at the store. These are also native Texans. Up until covid, people in these towns were super nice and friendly. It was one of the best parts of living here and made life very stress-free. Since covid, I've seen some of the most horrendous, rude behavior I've ever witnessed in my entire life. Like, a woman screaming at the clerk at the post office because the 6 ft social distance markers on the floor made the line too long, and people yelling at each other in HEB over lord knows what. It was loud enough that the entire front of the store stopped and stared. I've been called a socialist, a nazi, a "sheeple". I was also the topic of a lecture from a homeschool dad at the store to his son. The kid recognized me but the dad did not. I felt bad for the kid because he looked mortified as his dad banged on about how people like me don't have critical thinking skills and react only to fear, like an animal. I'm not sure why you brought up legal enforcement or why you assume what my stance would be on that matter. It feels like you are trying to bait me into an argument about the constitutionality of this situation, and I'm not interested in that fight.