It's starting again

Ok, so I meant it when I said I'm schizophrenic.

I'm the Planning Unschooler. The Unschooler with a Plan. The Scheduler without a Schedule, or the Unscheduler Who's Always looking at Her Watch.

Yes, I'm eclectic, unschoolish, and flexible. I like to allow my children to follow their interests, and explore things of their choosing.

But, I also love to browse curriculum catalogs. I love them. I love the nifty little packages, the clever resources, the tools and supplies neatly grouped together and offered as a sort of prize to the tuned-in, credit-card wielding, homeschooling mother. I love to come up with plans.

I love to browse and dream. But, that doesn't mean I purchase all that nifty stuff that I find within the pages of my beloved catalogs. As I confessed last year, I'm really just a nerd with a goofy hobby.

But, it's a hobby that bears fruit. Though I may not purchase every tempting tool or set of books that I crave, I do come away from those catalogs with ideas ... a few well-chosen purchases, and lots of ideas.

And, as I said in this post last summer:

Part of the fun of summer is planning our homeschooling journeys, even if we don't always end up at the originally intended destinations. In spite of our many side trips, planning keeps me aware of the big picture and accountable to the kids, my husband-the-principal, and myself.

Planning is the vision, the idea, which is a straight path (and, despite my flexible ways, I do have an overarching vision.) But, how can one be flexible (as in, "capable of being bent") if there's no straight line to begin with?

So, perhaps instead of the negative connotations associated with "schizophrenic" I will rename myself the Flexible Homeschooler.

Or, maybe I'll just plan to rename myself. But then, I'll deviate from the plan.

You know how it goes.