Schooled Friends

It seems so strange as I go along in our unschooling life. My children's best friends right now are schooled since we have lived here for 1 and 1/2 years. They are both very nice boys, and yet I wonder how long that can last.

We moved to our small town because of the large homeschooling population to find out they are mostly involved in school liaison programs. The few unschoolers we know for some reason haven't meshed as well with our boys as the schooled neighbors we live by, who have become my children's best friends.

I am just pondering the "What does that mean?" question in my mind and wondering if I should be pro-active or allow it to be. I tend to be an "Allow it to be" kind of gal in non-conflictual situations such as these.

It snowed again yesterday. This is exciting where we live and it always means snow clothes, sleds, snowball fights, hot cocoa and fun. My oldest came in after a short time, frustrated because his friend wanted to watch TV instead of play outside. He asked me why his friend didn't see how much more fun it would be to play in the snow, than watch TV.

I listened and waited for him to find an answer. We talked about the differences in their lives. How his friend was told what to do for most of the day, 5 days a week, and may have a different view of his weekends than my son. After awhile, my son seemed to come to a resolve, but told me he felt bad for his friend. This has come up before and both of my boys wish their friends could be at home like they are. This is very unlikely to happen.

Unschooling is freedom. Yet freedom isn't as fun when you watch your closest friends on the treadmill of "have tos and shoulds."