Tree House Academy Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I have never really been a trend-setter clothing wise, but I also do not sew my own. I am middle of the road, average (Tee shirt and jeans) kind of girl. I dress my kids pretty "cool" though (which is not hard for boys). I don't do it because it is the thing to do...I do it because I like to. My weirdness comes in yearning for a simpler life. 5 years ago, I was a city girl. I drove on the interstate, had all the new gadgets before anyone else, wouldn't have been caught dead in the dirt or dirty, etc. Now I live on a 56 acre farm with 29 chickens and 3 pigs (that I take care of each morning - letting the chickens out, slopping the hogs, etc). I have an old style TV (though I want a flat one), I gave up cable over a year ago to benefit my kids and encourage them to READ more (it worked!!! Now I want my cable back!! LOL), I enjoy where I live. We grow a garden, can our food, stockpile food items in our pantry, eat leftovers, etc. All this may sound "normal" to some, but for me, it was definitely a step out of my comfort zone at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peela Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I was "wierd" well before I started homeschooling. I have always been wierd. Never interested in fashion, at all, even as a teen. I wear the colour I feel like wearing each day. I dont like doctors or modern medicine for everyday illnesses (but I think they are great for trauma and some other things). I believe in being responsible for one's own health and one's emotions. I am into eastern spirituality, but also explore all sorts of spirituality. I have been a member of a cult. We rent rather than own our home because we want to bring the kids up in a middle class/wealthy suburb rather than where we can afford to buy, and because it's so beautiful where we live. I am married to a man who used to be a millionaire who dropped it all to find himself. We buy nearly everything 2nd hand because we enjoy it. I believe the governments of the world are rarely actually acting in our best interests and that there are even darker people pulling the strings of government.... The list goes on....homeschooling is just one aspect and it came long after many of the others... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnandtinagilbert Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 As weird as I wanna be. Sometimes very non-mainstream, other times just talkin' weird stuff...depends on my weird-o-meter and how high I feel like movin' the needle! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaxMom Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I am perfectly standard in my circle of friends... i.e. crunchy hippie homeschooler crowd. My husband, who gets out in the "world" more with that job thing, reminds me more and more that the way we do things is not the cultural norm. I'm always shocked. In my experience, the more I evaluate how/what we do, the more I evaluate. It starts with making a conscious evaluation of one thing, then seems to snowball into always evaluating. ;) It started with birth options and has spread to the place where I can't buy anything without wondering about the off-gassing, labor practices, environmental impact... It's a continuum. Like I said, though, I don't really think of any of it as "weird" until someone points it out. :D Okay to add to the weirdness scale.... I have fantasies of living off the grid. You know making do with your own power-solar, wind, whatever.:001_smile: ... My dad his live off the grid for 21 years... that's not "weird" to me, and one of my fantasies, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 If anything, I have become more normal as I aged and the longer I homeschooled. That is because I had old interests as a teenager and young adult and kept those interests. Now I am closer in age to people who hold the same interests (book clubs, birdwatching, gardening, going to museums and classical concerts, etc). I was always well received by the olders and continue to be so. But I am about as counter counter revolutionary as you can get. Boy Scouts, 4H, swim and dive, soccer, campaign for major party candidates, vaccinate (except Gardisil for now), etc. etc. We are really normal in the area of town that we live in and the church we attend. Its funny because I am sure we could move to some other places and be weird. But in this neighborhood and area, we are normal. Nobody bats an eye at all about homeschooling- rather they tell me that their friend, sister, cousin, etc. homeschool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto4girls Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 I love this post!! It makes me realize that being weird isn't that weird - it's normal. Thanks for posting! -From a total misfit (lol) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audrey Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 (edited) We were weird before. The homeschooling was a no-brainer, and probably one of the more "normal" things we've ever decided to do. Re: the fashion thing. I think of clothes like costumes. Too many years in theatre will do that to you. I find it funny when I'm out in "work mode" and run into an acquaintance or friend. They will always comment on the suit thing. I just say I'm "corporate Barbie" today, "witchy Barbie" another day, "farmer Barbie" yet another day. I have lots of "Barbies." :D Edited August 10, 2009 by Audrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto4girls Posted August 10, 2009 Share Posted August 10, 2009 We were weird before. The homeschooling was a no-brainer, and probably one of the more "normal" things we've ever decided to do. :D LOL - totally relate. I think if we didn't homeschool people would find that more strange. =D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted August 11, 2009 Share Posted August 11, 2009 I think it's excellent to question many assumptions. For me, traveling and meeting new people provides this -- something that is normal and unremarkable where one lives can be unusual elsewhere. In my lifetime (and I'm not that old!), I've seen a remarkable move away from conformity, and my mother suggests that it is quite a bit different from when she was young. In some ways, I think this is a very healthy thing. When I was young and needed glasses, I was the laughing stock of my classroom if not the school. It was very hard to be someone with any sort of health issue (remember the Baby Sitters' Club books about the diabetic girl?), whereas now, it's much less taboo. I know based on my own kids' experiences and seeing other kids in the neighborhood. Even the sorts of names people have nowadays have become much more diverse, and (as a person who was teased endlessly as a child for not being named Jennifer) I appreciate that. I find everyone dressing identically to be depressing, frankly. I don't think one has to dress in a freakish way, but the notion that if you sew your own clothes, then a) everyone will know, and b) everyone will be repulsed by you is amusingly...sad. Clothes and other items can be home-made and hand-made without looking like garbage; check out Ottobre Design if you want to sew beautiful, stylish clothes, and the many wonderful blogs dedicated to homemade sewing for ideas (Sew Mama Sew, Label Free, and WhipUp, just as a few examples). I think being unusual and different is one thing. It can make you a trend-setter: after all, the first person to start a fashion isn't following the crowd! Being a freak who is deliberately trying to make others uncomfortable, is an entirely different matter. But I also think somethings don't need to be discussed with everyone (use of cloth pads and Diva Cups spring to mind); let people assume you're "normal" unless there's some reason for it to be discussed. I don't think you have to be a militant who barges into your sister's medicine cabinet and burns her Kotex. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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